Ringgit up against US dollar at close

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar despite global risk sentiment and declining crude oil prices, a dealer said.

As at 6pm, the local note was quoted at 4.3450/3510 against the greenback compared with last Friday’s close of 4.3610/3690.

At press time, Brent crude fell 0.88 per cent to US$35.85 per barrel.

Financial services firm AxiCorp chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said the local note was caught between the tug of war of stabilising oil prices and heightened US-China trade tensions.

“Sadly, the latter will be a significant concern going forward since the US President Donald Trump has made it clear that his election campaign will be laced with anti-China rhetoric,” he told Bernama.

Innes said Trump and his administration hawks perceived that China was less than transparent in how the country handled the Covid-19 crisis.

Against a basket of benchmark currencies, the ringgit traded mostly lower.

The local currency fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0705/0753 from 3.0638/0698 last Friday, but strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 4.0355/0422 from 4.0567/0653.

The ringgit slipped against the euro to 4.7899/7978 from 4.7562/7667 and depreciated against the British pound to 5.3609/3700 from 5.3078/3118 previously. — Bernama