KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar, spurred by a weak greenback amid potential improvement in risk appetite, dealers said.
At 6 pm, the ringgit was quoted at 4.1080/1120 against the greenback from 4.1225/1275 last Friday.
One dealer said the greenback remained under pressure, as concerns continued to linger despite the lifting of the US government shutdown which was only for 21 days coupled with the impending US-China trade talks and US Federal Reserve (Fed) policy decision on interest rate hike.
“Traders are anxiously awaiting news on US-China talks on Tuesday and Wednesday to see if the world’s two largest economies can reach a compromise on trade.
“This coupled with US Fed’s policy decision, which would most likely signal a pause in their interest rate tightening cycle is expected to give some direction to the market,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded lower against other major currencies.
It weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.0362/0396 against 3.0346/0685 on last Friday and eased versus the euro to 4.6864/6914 against 4.6704/6769.
The local unit slipped vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.7547/7594 from 3.7542/7598 and fell against the British pound to 5.4049/4118 from 5.3935/4004 previously.