At the time of writing, the benchmark crude oil price gained 0.72% to US$115.05 per barrel.

Bank Islam Malaysia chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the firmer oil prices could be the underpinning factor for the ringgit amidst uncertainty in the global market.

“The possible relaxation in Covid-19 measures beginning June 1, 2022 for Shanghai have resulted in higher crude oil prices,” he told Bernama.

Afzanizam said data from China suggested that its zero-Covid strategy was taking a toll on its economy.

He added that China’s economic activity slumped after retail sales and industrial production index contracted by 11.1% and 2.9% respectively last month.

Similarly, the US New York Empire State Manufacturing Index was also down to -11.6 in May 2022 from 24.6 in April 2022, signalling that recovery in the manufacturing sector is still tentative.

Afzanizam said such dynamics would mean demand for the safe-haven currency will continue to remain sturdy as the economic uncertainty heightened.

The ringgit meanwhile was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1573/1601 from Friday’s close of 3.1482/1497, decreased vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5880/5916 from 4.5625/5640, and slid versus the British pound to 5.4151/4194 from 5.3568/3586.

However, the local note strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.3982/4012 from 3.4127/4142 previously.