Ringgit opens slightly higher against US dollar

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today amid rising oil prices and tensions over Iran.
As at 9.00am, the local unit was quoted at 3.9370/9420 against the US dollar from 3.9390/9420 recorded last Friday.
A dealer said oil prices in New York surged to a near US$70 per barrel, a figure last seen in late 2014, on worries over the reimposition of US sanctions on Iran, the second-largest Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries producer and exporter of crude oil.
He also said sentiment in the market was partly boosted by the positive revision of Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2018 by Moody's Investors Service on Friday.
Moody's raised the GDP growth forecast to 5.4% from 5.2% projected earlier, underpinned by a pipeline of large infrastructure projects that would stimulate both public and private investments.
FXTM Global Head of Currency Strategy & Market Research, Jameel Ahmad said this week would be a significant one for Malaysia with a host of different market events for investors to monitor.
"The general elections, retail sales and the latest interest rate decision are just a few of the different releases to come out from Malaysia over the week," he added.
There is in addition, the Monetary Policy Meeting on May 10 with most analysts expecting Bank Negara Malaysia to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.25%.
"However, the accompanying statement following the decision will still be monitored, in case any clues are provided on where the interest rate is heading in the future," said Jameel.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, except against the British pound, where it rose to 5.3327/3398 from 5.3389/3446.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 2.9537/9583 from 2.9523/9548 on Friday, declined against the yen at 3.6136/6192 from 3.6095/6132, and was lower against the euro at 4.7114/7186 from 4.7103/7154. — Bernama