Malaysian Ringgit Opens Lower Against US Dollar

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) – The Malaysian ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on Thursday with the subdued global oil prices having an impact on investors’ appetite for the local note. At 9 am, the local unit stood at 4.0210/0240 against the greenback from 4.0130/0180 at the close on Wednesday. The benchmark Brent crude traded at US$67.83 a barrel, down 0.01 per cent. A dealer said the greenback was starting to gain its ground as US Federal Reserve (Fed) released its December policy meeting minutes. Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies. It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0208/0251 from 3.0191/0240 on Wednesday and rose against the yen to 3.5676/5712 from 3.5735/5782 previously. The ringgit increased against the euro to 4.8288/8336 from 4.8304/8373 yesterday and was higher against the British pound at 5.4344/4388 from 5.4513/4593 previously. -- BERNAMA