Ringgit Opens Slightly Lower On Weaker Oil Prices, China’s Q1 Economic Data

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Bernama) -- The ringgit kick-started the week on a negative note against the US dollar Monday, dragged by the falling crude oil prices and the weaker-than-expected China’s first-quarter economic data. At 9.01 am, the ringgit opened slightly lower at 4.3680/3780 versus the greenback which closed at 4.3650/3750 last Friday. Crude oil prices continued to struggle despite the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies agreed on a huge cut of 10 million barrels oil production per day, last week, as investors remained jittery over the impact of the COVID-19. As at 9.31 am, the benchmark crude oil price stood at US$27.65 per barrel, falling 1.53 per cent from the previous closing session. China saw its second-quarter gross domestic product shrank 6.8 per cent year-on-year for the first quarter of 2020, weaker than the 6.5 per cent contraction predicted by analysts polled by Reuters, pressured by the deadly COVID-19. Commenting on that, AxiCorp global chief market strategist Stephen Innes said the ringgit is likely to remain moderately bearish until crude oil prices rise. “And China's consumption and export engines start to fire on more than just a few cylinders,” he said in a note Monday. At the opening bell, the ringgit also traded lower against other major currencies. It was weakened against the yen at 4.0482/0586 from 4.0465/0562 last Friday and shed against the pound to 5.4521/4659 from 5.4200/4342. The local note declined against the euro to 4.7441/7563 from 4.7216/7338 and depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.0668/0755 from 3.0621/0702. -- BERNAMA