KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on Monday despite the firmer oil prices as the Russia-Ukraine conflict caused a meteoric rise in oil and other commodity prices, said an analyst.

At 9.00am, the local currency declined further to 4.1960/1990 versus the greenback from 4.1930/1975 at Friday’s close.

At the time of writing, Brent crude was trading 1.82 per cent better at US$110.05 per barrel.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid opined that the military conflict in Ukraine has yet to see any convincing evidence that it will subside in the near term.

"As such, forex investors would stay guarded, but for now, it seems that the recent monetary tightening by major central banks have been well received. 

"Perhaps, the focus now may have shifted slightly to the strength of the economic recovery,” he told Bernama, adding that the ringgit should linger around RM4.19 to RM4.20 today.

Mohd Afzanizam said the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from the developed market this week would help the market understand the sustainability of the global economic recovery.

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

It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.5204/5232 from 3.5259/5300 at Friday’s close and improved against the euro to 4.6345/6378 from 4.6370/6420.

However, the ringgit fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0949/0975 from Friday’s 3.0924/0960 and declined against the British pound to 5.5232/5271 from 5.5100/5159. — Bernama