The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar after the US currency performed well on increased risk-off sentiment.
The rise was supported by a 15.5% jump in Brent crude oil prices to $107.04 per barrel.
At 9:36am, the ringgit was trading at 3.9640, down 0.56% against the US dollar since opening early Monday in the Asian session.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that Brent oil prices jumped 37.7% to $107.04 per barrel from $77.74 per barrel last week after Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader.
He also noted that the US Dollar Index (DXY) rose 0.52% to 99.496 points on risk-off sentiment.
According to Mohd Afzanizam, the ringgit is likely to remain weak in the near term amid increasingly fragile market sentiment.
Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East have been rising after Iran launched a drone attack on a Bahraini desalination plant.
However, the US and Israel are expected to step up military action against Iran.
At the opening, the ringgit traded mixed against other currencies.
It rose against the euro to 4.5577/5866 from 4.5634/5762, rose slightly against the Japanese yen to 2.4967/5126 from 2.4973/5044, but weakened against the British pound to 5.2621/2954 from 5.2530/2676.
The ringgit was also traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.
It gained against the Thai baht to 12.3312/4169 from 12.3392/3810, but depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0788/0987 from 3.0779/0867 previously.
It also plunged against the Philippine peso to 6.70/6.75 from 6.68/6.70 and fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 233.6/235.2 from 232.9/233.6 previously.
