KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar on Monday as markets continue to be affected by the conflict in Ukraine amidst mixed messaging between the United States (US) and Russia, said an analyst.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.1780/1815 versus the greenback from 4.1845/1870 last Friday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar/MYR pairing was well supported throughout the day, although it moved within a narrow range as expected.
For this week, the major event to look out for will be the meeting between the US and Russian officials, as the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are scheduled to meet later this week in Europe.
“Given the fluidity of the prevailing condition, we believe the foreign exchange market will continue to remain defensive.
“In this regard, seeking refuge in the safe-haven currencies, namely the US dollar, would be the immediate reaction,” he told Bernama.
Nonetheless, Mohd Afzanizam said the higher commodity prices, namely crude oil and crude palm oil, can be positive for Malaysia.
“So perhaps the downside risks to the ringgit are being negated by the higher commodity prices,” he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies, except the Japanese yen.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1047/1075 from 3.1149/1170 at last Friday's close and appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6959/7006 from 5.7001/7035 last week.
The local currency improved against the euro to 4.7466/7506 from 4.7578/7606 on Friday but slipped versus the yen to 3.6384/6418 from 3.6340/6361 previously.
— Bernama
