KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit has opened slightly lower against the US dollar today due to the strengthening of the greenback, said an analyst.
At 9am, the local note eased to 4.0655/0690 against the US dollar from Wednesday’s close of 4.0630/0650.
Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the higher US dollar was backed by optimism over the US Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine approval, and its subsequent roll out in the US is holding the oil market in check after a much larger-than-expected inventory build in the country.
“I also expect the regional stock to trade unsettled on the lack of progress on both Brexit and US stimulus.
“But overall, the vaccine developments and its release should help regional exporters, which suggest the ringgit should trade on steady footing,” he told Bernama.
AmBank Research in its note today said the ringgit rose to a three-day high yesterday after appreciating by 0.23% to 4.063 against the greenback.
It expected the ringgit to trade between its support levels of 4.0507 and 4.0570, while resistance is pinned at 4.0736 and 4.0811.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against other major currencies.
It marginally rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0403/0438 from 3.0421/0438 on Wednesday but fell vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.4396/4455 from 5.4623/4666 previously.
The ringgit increased against the euro to 4.9119/9166 from 4.9260/9296 yesterday and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.8990/9027 from 3.9030/9056.