By Siti Noor Afera Abu and Fatin Umairah Abdul Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 (Bernama) -- The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar and a basket of major currencies on Monday despite a strong US Dollar Index (DXY) as ongoing geopolitical tensions, with the United States’ (US) involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, in focus, said an analyst.
At 8 am, the local note rose to 4.2420/2655 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.2505/2565.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said there are fears of a wider conflagration in the region as the US announced "successful" airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.
"The focus is clearly on how it might impact crude oil prices and risk sentiment.
“Brent Crude oil prices rallied by 2.49 per cent to US$78.93 per barrel, the highest since January 2025 with concerns over Iranian retaliation and (the possibility that it) might use the Straits of Hormuz choke point as leverage in the prevailing conflict," he told Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam also said the ringgit could depreciate against the US dollar due to the defensive mode among traders.
He said there could be a risk-off mode in the currency market,as the US DXY has risen to 98.937 points, while precious commodities, such as spot gold, were up by 0.27 per cent to US$3,377.42 per ounce.
At the opening, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It trended higher against the Japanese yen at 2.9023/9186 from 2.9245/9289 at Friday’s close, rose versus the British pound to 5.7000/7316 from 5.7356/7437, and inched up against the euro to 4.8800/9070 from 4.9000/9069 previously.
The local note also traded firmer against its ASEAN counterparts.
It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2948/3133 from 3.3088/3140 at Friday’s close, climbed to 12.9243/13.0042 from 12.9727/9969 versus the Thai baht, advanced vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 258.6/260.2 from 259.2/259.7 and gained against the Philippine peso to 7.42/7.46 from 7.43/7.45.
-- BERNAMA
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