KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar today as sentiment remained weighed down by surging Covid-19 cases, coupled with declining oil price, a dealer said.
At 6pm, the local note eased by 200 basis points to 4.2240/2265 versus the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.2040/2070.
OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said regional currencies, including the ringgit remained on the back foot in Asia today, as the ongoing waves of Covid-19 eroded growth and recovery hopes.
Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases are still hovering above 10,000 marks to record 10,972 new cases today, bringing the cumulative total to 927,533 cases.
Halley noted that the ringgit also suffered further from Friday’s drop in oil prices even as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (Opec+) reached a tentative deal on increased production quotas.
At press time, the benchmark Brent crude oil fell by 2.64 per cent to US$71.65 per barrel.
“The ringgit will find support at 4.2000 and I expect it to drift towards 4.2500 by mid-week and could approach 4.3000 by the week’s end, especially if investors continue to buy US dollars generally as a haven trade,” he told Bernama.
Meanwhile, the government is expected to make an announcement on the standard operating procedure (SOP) relaxation for those who have completed the two-dose vaccination after the Aidiladha holiday on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said a detailed study is also in progress to determine which business sectors can be given relaxed restrictions.
At the close, the local note was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1034/1057 from 3.1053/1078 at Friday’s close and gained against the British pound at 5.8038/8072 from 5.8129/8170 previously.
However, the local unit eased vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9750/9780 from 4.9687/9723 and weakened against the Japanese yen to 3.8470/8493 from 3.8180/8207 previously. — Bernama
Source: Malay Mail
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