KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — The ringgit ended higher against the US dollar today, supported by increasing crude oil prices as China eased pandemic restrictions, coupled with a weakening greenback, said an analyst.

At 6pm, the local currency climbed to 4.3640/3685 versus the US dollar from Friday’s close of 4.3775/3800.

OANDA Asia Pacific senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said the ringgit found further strength as oil prices improved, while some regional currencies also booked decent gains versus the greenback today, although higher oil prices would increase the countries’ domestic subsidy bills.

At the time of writing, the benchmark Brent crude oil price rose 0.33 per cent to US$119.8 per barrel.

"However, if oil prices continue to rise this week, the rally in energy-importing Asian currencies may run out of steam,” Halley told Bernama.

He said Asian currencies’ gains today were also backed by the decline of the US dollar as improving risk sentiment continued to unwind the greenback’s rally.

The ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.

The local note rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1940/1976 from Friday’s close of 3.1962/1982 and increased vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.4289/4327 from 3.4450/4472.

However, it edged down versus the British pound to 5.5192/5248 from 5.5170/5201 on Friday and eased versus the euro to 4.6978/7027 from 4.6905/6932 previously. — Bernama