Ringgit opens slightly higher as gains tapered by rising risk sentiment

Risk assets and oil prices may be hit, taking down currencies of commodity producing countries, especially the Russian ruble, Colombian peso and ringgit, according to Bloomberg.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today after two days of downtrend backed by higher oil prices, a dealer said.  

At 9 am, the local currency stood at 4.1380/1410 against 4.1400/1430 recorded at Tuesday's closing.   

OANDA Head of Trading in Asia-Pacific Stephen Innes said that even though oil price is on the rise, escalating geopolitical concerns in the South China Sea following the incident between Chinese and US warships yesterday have made investors more cautious.  

"The risk sentiment is on the rise, hence investors are staying on the sidelines for the moment," he said. 

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against other major currencies.

It slightly slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.0108/0140 from 3.0100/0129 on Tuesday and declined versus the euro to 4.7765/7816 from 4.7668/7715.

The local currency, however, depreciated vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.6423/6459 from yesterday's 3.6399/6438 and declined against the British pound to 5.3695/3738 from 5.3634/3677. - Bernama