KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — The ringgit ended lower against the US dollar despite the firmer oil prices due to the conflict in Ukraine, said an analyst.

At 6pm, the local currency was trading at 4.1800/1840 versus the US dollar compared with 4.1765/1805 at yesterday’s close.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said the foreign exchange (fx) market is still in a risk-off mode, and trading could remain choppy.

"However, based on news reports, China stands ready to mediate in the Ukraine conflict, and headlines about a ceasefire to evacuate civilians have eased demand for US dollars.

"Besides, a lower-than-expected People’s Bank of China yuan interest rate fix—and a stable yuan, in general—continue to anchor regional currencies, and the ringgit is no exception,” he told Bernama.

Innes also noted that the ringgit’s passive reaction to the higher oil prices may be due to stagflationary offset that may come at some point and curb demand for Malaysia’s exports, including oil.

At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading 2.48 per cent better at US$126.3 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly mixed against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the yen to 3.6159/6197 from 3.6295/6333 yesterday and perked against the British pound to 5.4837/4890 from 5.5005/5057 previously.

However, the ringgit fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0656/0688 from yesterday’s 3.0606/0638 and declined against the euro to 4.5508/5551 from 4.5344/5388 previously. — Bernama