Ringgit opens marginally higher against greenback

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar today following the positive development in Shanghai, ahead of the reopening of China's economy, an analyst said.

At 9 am, the local note stood at 4.3920/3945 versus the greenback from Thursday's close of 4.3950/3990.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the Asian foreign exchange will be taking its cue from the yuan as that will be the signal of economic recovery.

"That will be the clearest signpost that China's economy is improving or that its policymakers are looking to adjust their zero COVID-19 policy more liberally," he told Bernama.

Shanghai is set to lift its COVID-19 lockdown on June 1.

Meanwhile, Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the economic uncertainties due to supply disruptions could threaten the pace of economic recovery.

"As such, the dollar-ringgit will continue to trade in a narrow range today," he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local note had eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.1988/2011 from Thursday's close of 3.1987/2018, slid versus the British pound to 5.5436/5467 from 5.5377/5427 yesterday and decreased versus the euro to 4.7170/7197 from 4.7079/7122 previously.

However, the ringgit rose vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.4577/4600 from 3.4677/4712 yesterday.

-- BERNAMA