The ringgit showed encouraging signs of recovery as it returned to near the psychological level of 3.99 against the USD, driven by increasingly positive global market sentiment.
At 10 am, the ringgit was at 3.9870 against the USD, up 1.02% since it opened early Wednesday in the Asian session.
This development followed the announcement by US President Donald Trump, who postponed military action against Iran for two weeks after diplomatic negotiations involving Pakistani leaders.
According to Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist, Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, the postponement measure can be considered a form of 'bilateral ceasefire' that provides temporary relief to the global financial market.
At the same time, the price of Brent crude oil also recorded a significant drop of 15.70 percent to around $92.12 per barrel, while the USD Index (DXY) fell to 99.635 points.
These two factors indirectly supported the strengthening of the ringgit, as USD weakness often benefits developing currencies.
In terms of other currency comparisons, the ringgit strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5187/5238 from 2.5229/5258 at Tuesday's close.
However, it depreciated against the euro to 4.6719/6806 from 4.6566/6618, and fell against the British pound to 5.3570/3671 from 5.3425/3484.
Nevertheless, the ringgit's performance among ASEAN currencies remains encouraging.
The local currency strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1331/1392 from 3.1381/1419, strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 233.6/234.2 from 235.4/235.8, and rose against the Philippine peso to 6.63/6.64 from 6.68/6.69 previously.
The ringgit weakened against the Thai baht to 12.4572/4879 from 12.3809/4021.
