The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar on Tuesday as market sentiment continued to focus on developments in the Middle East.
At 10:30am, the ringgit was trading at 3.9720, up 0.05% since it opened early Tuesday in the Asian session.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market sentiment was still focused on the situation in the Middle East, as the United States (US) and Iran continued to negotiate to find a solution, but it still seemed difficult to achieve.
According to him, the latest developments showed that US President Donald Trump had called off plans to attack Iran as serious talks with Tehran were ongoing.
Mohd Afzanizam said that although talks between the US and Iran were still ongoing, the rise in crude oil prices showed that concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions still existed.
He said that West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil prices increased by 3.07 percent and 2.60 percent to $108.66 per barrel and $112.10 per barrel respectively.
At the same time, the US dollar index (DXY) decreased by 0.34 percent to 98.947 points.
Accordingly, he expected the ringgit to be traded in a narrow range between 3.96 to 3.97 against the US dollar today.
At the opening trading session, the ringgit was traded lower against several major world currencies.
The local currency fell against the British pound to 5.3336/3410 from 5.3078/3145 at Monday's close, fell against the euro to 4.6276/6340 from 4.6214/6272, and weakened against the Japanese yen to 2.4992/5028 from 2.4991/5024.
The ringgit was also mostly traded lower against its regional peers.
It fell against the Thai baht to 12.2053/2305 from 12.1646/1848, and weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1056/1104 from 3.1036/1078 previously.
However, the local currency rose slightly against the Indonesian rupiah to 224.7/225.1 from 224.8/225.1 previously.
The ringgit was almost unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.43/6.44 from 6.43/6.45 previously.
