Ringgit finishes flat against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit took a breather from its rally this morning to finish flat against the US dollar today amid firmer crude oil prices and positive investment sentiment in the local market.
At 6pm, the local note ended at 3.9950/9990 against the greenback from 3.9950/9000 on Friday.
Oanda Corp Head of Trading for Asia Pacific, Stephen Innes, told Bernama the firming crude oil prices appeared to have been enough for the local note to break its 4.0 psychologically level against the greenback.
"Rising crude oil prices also bode well for Bursa Malaysia, given that oil and gas constituents play a vital role in the local bourse and have provided some decent fund inflows," he said.
The recent crude oil supply disruption and escalating tensions in West Asia had boosted the benchmark Brent crude oil price to US$67.60 (US$1 = RM3.99) per barrel on Monday.
He said while the ringgit was expected to continue strengthening on a benevolent US Federal Reserve outlook amid energy price rally, Innes said, the local market had most likely sufficiently priced in anticipation of Bank Negara Malaysia's January rate increase.
"We may see the pace of appreciation to slow down and profit-taking is expected to set in ahead of this month's rate decision," he said.
At the close, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies, especially the Singapore dollar and the euro.
The local unit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0008/0043 from last Friday's close of 3.0081/0123 after hitting a 14-month high of 2.9962/9002 against the currency as at 1pm today, touching the highest level last seen in October 2016.
Vis-a-vis the euro, the ringgit appreciated to another new high of 4.7896/7952 from yesterday's close of 4.8116/8192, a level last registered on June 23, 2017 which saw the local note closed at 4.7880/7918 versus the currency.
Against the British pound, the ringgit advanced to 5.4036/4106 from 5.4048/4132 previously.
However, against the yen, it fell to 3.5298/5342 from 3.5279/5333 last Friday. — Bernama