KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar today despite a slight increase in Brent crude oil price which traded at US$20.26 per barrel today, up by 1.35%.
At 6pm, the local unit fell to 4.3610/3680 versus the greenback from 4.3530/3630 recorded at Monday’s close.
An analyst said although the crude oil price had improved a bit, its outlook remained bearish as Covid-19 fuelled storage fears.
“But with the opening of the China economy, which is getting showered with a stream of monetary and fiscal policies, we suspect the local currency would receive a boost.
“And while the movement control order (MCO) extension is a problem, when lifted, it’s probably a quickly reversible problem, provided policy support has reached those that need it the most,” he said.
At the closing, the local unit was traded lower against other major currencies.
It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.0787/0847 from 3.0672/0754 at Monday’s close and weakened against yen to 4.0872/0945 from 4.0610/0715.
Vis-a-vis the pound, the ringgit slid to 5.4425/4521 from 5.4121/4254 while against the euro, it fell to 4.7404/7493 from 4.7221/7347 previously. - Bernama
