At 8am, the ringgit appreciated to 3.9600/3.9715 against the US dollar from 3.9735/3.9805 at Monday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said recent developments in the global oil market, following the news that there will be another second-round negotiation between the US and Iran in the near term, have dragged West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil prices to fall below US$100 per barrel.

“The news sparked hope that an amicable solution could be achieved, although it can also be elusive,” he added.

On the US dollar, which is deemed a safe-haven currency, Afzanizam said the two- and 10-year US Treasury yields fell by two basis points to 3.77% and 4.29%, respectively. In the same vein, the US Dollar Index (DXY) declined 0.23% to 98.425 points.

“In that sense, there appears to be a risk-on mode, although that may be quite tentative given the evolving nature of the negotiations.

“Ringgit might stage a slight rebound but should remain in a narrow range of RM3.96 to RM3.98 today,” he added.

Despite trading firmer against the greenback, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies at the opening, except against the Japanese yen.

It fell against the British pound to 5.3515/5.3671 from 5.3360/5.3454 and weakened against the euro to 4.6589/4.6725 from 4.6434/4.6516.

Against the Japanese yen, it rose to 2.4867/2.4940 from 2.4875/2.4920 at Monday’s close.

At the same time, the local currency traded mostly higher against Asean currencies, except against the Thai baht.

It increased versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1105/3.1205 from 3.1145/3.1205, was higher against the Indonesian rupiah to 231.5/232.3 from 232.2/232.8 and gained against the Philippine peso to 6.58/6.60 from 6.60/6.62 at Monday’s close.

The local note depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.3623/12.4071 from 12.3202/12.3503.