KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — The ringgit has retreated from yesterday's gains, closing lower against the US dollar on Tuesday despite the weaker greenback and stronger crude oil price.
At 6pm, the local note stood at 4.1845/1855 versus the greenback from 4.1780/1815 on Monday.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar/MYR pairing remained fairly stable during the day at around RM4.18.
Although concerns over the conflict in Ukraine has increased, the rise in Brent crude oil price to more than US$99 (RM414.36) per barrel may have supported the value of the ringgit.
Nonetheless, he said the prevailing market condition is fragile in light of the fluidity of the geopolitical concern.
“At the end of the day, it is about whether the conflict would lead to further military aggression.
“Given that the European countries are heavily dependent on Russia for gas supply, it may seem that further conflict could exaggerate the inflationary pressures brought by the higher crude oil prices,” he told Bernama.
As such, safe-haven currencies such as the US dollar will continue to prevail in the immediate terms, he added.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of other major currencies.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1065/1077 from 3.1047/1075 at the close yesterday and slipped versus the yen to 3.6444/6456 from 3.6384/6418 previously.
However, the local currency appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.6826/6839 from 5.6959/7006 on Monday and improved against the euro to 4.7373/7384 from 4.7466/7506 previously.
— Bernama
