KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended the last trading day in November easier against the US dollar, retreating from earlier gains as sentiment was dragged by surging Covid-19 cases, said an analyst.
At 6 pm, the local note was traded at 4.0730/0750 against the greenback compared with last Friday’s close of 4.0670/0710.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the local Covid-19 cases count was always an immediate concern as it would limit a lot of near growth prospects.
“But I think the bigger denominator is uncertainty over the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting which is weighing on oil as markets have assumed 100 per cent thrust that OPEC would extend the current quotas, but some doubt has entered the fray,” he told Bernama.
It was reported that Saudi Arabia and Russia tried to encourage oil producers to extend the quota cut, but Iraq, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates wanted to pump more barrels.
The benchmark Brent crude oil declined 1.89 per cent to US$47.27 per barrel at the press time.
Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded mostly lower.
It was lower against the yen at 3.9148/9171 compared with 3.9083/9133 at last Friday’s close, softer against the euro at 4.8807/8843 from 4.8479/8543, and depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0455/0486 from 3.0380/0420 previously.
However, vis-a-vis the pound, the local note rose to 5.4277/4308 from 5.4319/4389 on Friday last week. — Bernama
