KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today following positive economic recovery sentiment across the globe, especially in Asia’s emerging markets.
At 9am, the ringgit stood at 4.0470/0520 compared with yesterday’s close of 4.0530/0560.
An analyst said the ringgit was pushed up after benchmark Brent Crude recorded an overnight increase following China’s strong rebound in retail output and sales.
“This has set the uptrend course to other emerging markets in Asia, including the ringgit, as the US and some parts of Europe are reimposing stricter curfews over the holiday season to curb the spread of Covid-19 cases,” he said.
He added that the currency was further pushed by encouraging news on the vaccine front by Pfizer/BioNTech, as well as Moderna, which will spur market optimism further in 2021.
Bloomberg reported that China pulled further ahead of other major economies in November as industrial output and retail sales strengthened, reinforcing expectations of healthy growth in 2021.
Industrial production rose 7% in November from a year earlier, while retail sales expanded 5% in the same period.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded higher against all other major currencies.
It added slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.0362/0411 from 3.0369/0396 but slid against the British pound to 5.4388/4459 from 5.3966/4026 at Monday’s close.
The ringgit inched up against the euro to 4.9167/9240 from 4.9272/9321 but declined against the Japanese yen to 3.9030/9086 from 3.8949/8989 previously.