KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — The ringgit closed higher on Thursday, buoyed by renewed market optimism about global trade recovery after preliminary research revealed that the Covid-19 Omicron variant appears to be less severe than the once-dominant Delta strain.
At 6 pm, the local note stood at 4.1980/2020 versus the greenback compared with 4.2110/2140 at Wednesday’s close.
OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said the US dollar was in full retreat overnight, mostly due to reports that Omicron presents fewer hospitalisation risks.
“As such, sentiment swung even more strongly back to the global recovery trade.
“As for oil prices, as the Omicron is not as bad as we thought, trade continued to push oil markets higher overnight,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of other major currencies.
It fell vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.0874/0908 from 3.0832/0858 on Wednesday, depreciated against the British pound to 5.6257/6311 from 5.5964/6004, and was flat against the euro at 4.7521/7567 as compared with 4.7521/7555 chalked up yesterday.
The local note, however, increased versus the Japanese yen to 3.6721/6760 from 3.6835/6865 at the close yesterday.
— Bernama
