KUALA LUMPUR, The ringgit ended marginally higher against the US dollar on Wednesday, supported by rising oil price despite a record in daily new COVID-19 infections in the country, a dealer said.
At 6 pm, the local note stood at 4.2350/2390 versus the greenback from Tuesday’s close of 4.2370/2380.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the ringgit was not moving much today as the adverse changes were cushioned by the recovery in oil price after four straight days of declines.
At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil price rose by 1.07 per cent to US$69.77 per barrel.
“Nevertheless, investors continue to fret over demand for fuel as the virus continues its spread and are still worried about the outlook for fuel demand amid surging COVID-19 cases worldwide,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health today reported 22,242 new COVID-19 cases, the country’s highest daily figure ever, bringing the cumulative total infections to 1,466,512 cases to date.
At the close, the local note was also traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1142/1176 from 3.1182/1192 at Tuesday’s close and improved against the Japanese yen to 3.8619/8659 from 3.8768/8778.
It gained versus the British pound to 5.8223/8278 from 5.8462/8476 and strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9617/9664 compared from 4.9874/9885.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency