KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened marginally lower against the US dollar in the early trading session today, a dealer said.

At 9 am, the local currency stood at 4.1430/1480 versus the greenback compared with 4.1400/1440 at yesterday’s close.

Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said with oil price firming up a bit on China’s demand and yuan trading stronger this morning, he expects the ringgit to trade more favourably on these impulses.

"Yet, momentum will likely be held back by the lack of the US stimulus, which has driven investors back into the US dollar,” he said.

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil price stood at US$42.48 per barrel.

Focus on the ringgit yesterday was idiosyncratic as Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim presented a document to Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah to prove that he has enough parliament support to lead the country, which would go a long way to lifting the lingering political clouds hanging over Malaysia's capital market.

Innes said the market received the meeting well, hence, the local note improved into yesterday's close.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against other major currencies.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0472/0521 from 3.0477/0518 yesterday and increased against the British pound to 5.3590/3659 from 5.4023/4092.

The local currency improved against the euro to 4.8660/8731 from 4.8798/8854 but depreciated versus the yen to 3.9292/9344 from 3.9238/9287 previously. - Bernama