Ringgit opens slightly lower against US dollar

At 9.04 am(0104gmt), the local note stood at 4.3490/3550 against the greenback from 4.3460/3490 registered at 6pm on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit was slightly lower against the US dollar in early trade today.

At 9am, the local currency, which was heavily influenced by oil price movements, was quoted at 4.2680/2730 against Friday's close of 4.2670/2700.

FXTM Research Analyst, Lukman Otunuga, said a strong sense of disappointment was having a punishing effect on oil markets last week, with prices tumbling five per cent after OPEC underwhelmed investors by renewing an agreement to cap output by just 1.8 million barrels a day until March 2018.

"With the resurgence of US Shale obstructing OPEC's efforts to quell the oversupply woes this year, most investors were hoping for deeper cuts to effectively rebalance the saturated markets," he said in a statement.

Against other major currencies, the ringgit was traded higher. It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0843/0901, increased against the British pound to 5.4724/4801, appreciated against the Yen to 3.8319/8374, and rose against the Euro to 4.7674/7747. - Bernama