KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — The ringgit slid slightly against the greenback at the opening today, as safe-haven assets such as the US dollar continued to gain traction amid rising Covid-19 woes in Europe.

At 9am, the local note eased to 4.1460/1510 against the US dollar from 4.1440/1490 at yesterday’s close.

Meanwhile, a dealer said concerns over fresh trade tensions between the United States (US) and China also contributed to the greenback’s rally.

Yesterday, US President Joe Biden was reported as saying that the country would upheld the position as the world economic superpower, and would prevent China from passing it to become the most powerful country in the world.

"According to news reports, the president also vowed to invest heavily to ensure America prevails in the race between the world’s two largest economies,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Axi chief global market strategist Stephen Innes said while the improved crude oil prices would lend some support to the ringgit, the current dash for dollars had wholly eroded any glimmer of near-term hope for the local note.

At the time of writing, Brent crude price stood at US$62.51 (RM260) per barrel, up 0.90 per cent from previous session.

Against a basket of benchmark currencies, the ringgit was traded mostly higher, except versus the British pound, depreciating to 5.6999/7085 from 5.6777/6854 at yesterday’s close.

The ringgit increased against yen to 3.7939/7992 from 3.7994/8050, strengthened versus the euro to 4.8844/8907 from 4.8936/9012 and went up vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.0745/0794 from 3.0769/0813. — Bernama