KUALA LUMPUR – The ringgit managed to recover some grounds on a slight improvement in demand, despite lingering fears over the Omicron variant currently spreading both in the country and globally.
At 9.01am, the local note rose slightly to 4.2230/2260 versus the greenback compared with 4.2240/2280 at yesterday’s close.
A trader said the United States dollar took a hit after Democrat West Virginia senator Joe Manchin announced he will not support President Joe Biden’s administration’s US$2 trillion social spending plan, citing inflation concerns.
The trader also expects the trading of the ringgit to remain cautious as Omicron continues to weigh on risk appetite.
Malaysia’s Covid-19 daily tally stood at 2,589 cases yesterday, falling below the 3,000-mark, but Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin warned that the government is expecting an increase in positive Covid-19 cases at relief centres nationwide due to the flood situation in the country.
The country had reported 11 more Omicron cases recently, bringing the total number of cases to 13.
Meanwhile, at the opening, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of other major currencies.
It rose vis-à-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7181/7211 from 3.7209/7248 on Monday, but depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0883/0910 from 3.0873/0906 yesterday.
It also fell against the British pound to 5.5744/5783 from 5.5698/5750 previously and decreased versus the euro to 4.7619/7652 from 4.7550/7595 at yesterday’s close. – Bernama, December 21, 2021
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