At 9.19am, the ringgit stood at 4.0940/0980 against the greenback from 4.0860/0900 at the close yesterday.
A dealer said international benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.5% to US$65.96 per barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures was 0.5% lower at US$56.39 per barrel.
“Weaker global oil price is perceived as negative for the country’s oil and gas revenue,” he added.
Meanwhile, RHB Research economist, Vincent Loo Yeong Hong said the ringgit depreciated by 0.4% against the US dollar to 4.087 in the first week of March, following up on the 0.5% gain in February, amid upbeat economic data in the United States.
“On a year-to-date basis, the ringgit has gained 1.1%, rebounding from a 1.8% loss registered in 2018.
“The ringgit is expected to continue its strengthening path to RM3.80 against the US dollar by end-2019, due to greenback weakness on expectations that the US Federal Reserve may pause its rate hike stance following signs of slowing US economic growth,” he said in a note.
However, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against other major currencies, except against the Japanese yen, where it fell to 3.6714/6753 from 3.6574/6619.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0072/0112 from 3.0108/0140, appreciated against the British pound to 5.3586/3647 from 5.3784/3853 and was higher against the euro to 4.5812/5873 from 4.6209/6258.