KUALA LUMPUR: Steady crude oil prices, positive market sentiment in Malaysia and optimism over US-China trade talks pushed the ringgit to finish at its highest level in more than six months.
At 5pm, the local note surged 140 basis points, or 18%, to 4.0640/0700 against the US dollar from 4.0780/0830 on Tuesday, the highest level since Aug 1, 2018 when it touched 4.0640/0680.
A dealer said the steadier crude oil prices which saw benchmark Brent crude hover above US$66 per barrel today, continued to fuel investor optimism as firmer oil prices was a boon to the country’s oil and gas revenue.
“Meanwhile, news that Malaysia is in the last mile in its negotiations with China for a lower price tag for the US$20 billion East Coast Rail Link project also helped improve market sentiment in the country,“ he said.
Externally, the dealer said rising hopes for progress on the US-China trade talks that resumed this week had whipped up investor appetite for riskier emerging market currencies.
“This has lent support to the ringgit’s performance,“ he added.
At the close, the ringgit was, however, traded mostly lower against other major currencies, except against the Japanese yen.
It slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.0066/0115 from 3.0052/0093 on Tuesday, declined against the British pound to 5.2986/3081 from 5.2680/2761 and retreated versus the euro to 4.6106/6195 from 4.6085/6158.
Vis-a-vis the Japanese yen, the local unit appreciated to 3.6679/6743 from 3.6812/6867 previously. — Bernama
