THE ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today as the procession of good news weighs on safe haven US dollar, with market players anticipating that the worst of Covid-19’s economic slowdown is behind Asia and the developed world.
At 9.11am today, the ringgit was quoted at 4.2900/2960 against the greenback from 4.3150/3200 at the close yesterday.
The gains in global oil price also provided a boost to market sentiment on the ringgit.
In a note, OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst, Jeffrey Halley said oil bounced sharply on Friday with both Brent crude and WTI posting near 90% gains in May as US President Donald Trump left the US-China trade deal intact on Friday.
“Yesterday, both contracts have edged higher again following impressive manufacturing PMI’s from China and the rest of the Asian region. That has seen a renewed wave of buyer’s pile into the economic recovery trade across the markets.
“Assuming no surprise headlines emerge to derail the rally, Brent crude looks set to advance on the US$40 a barrel region,” he said, adding that oil consumption seems set to increase in the near-term with PMI data suggesting a manufacturing recovery and lockdowns ending across the world.
The potential dark cloud for the oil price, however, would be the next OPEC+ meeting which is set to be brought forward to June 4.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of benchmark currencies, except against the British pound, where it declined to 5.3659/3747 from 5.3454/3533
The local note rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0497/0544 from 3.0620/0660, gained against the Japanese yen to 3.9866/9933 from 4.0099/0156 and was higher against the euro at 4.7743/7827 from 4.7953/8021 at the close on Monday. – June 2, 2020, Bernama
