At 9.03am, the local note declined to 4.1470/1500 versus the greenback from 4.1445/1495 at yesterday’s close.

At the time of writing, benchmark Brent crude oil slipped 0.325 to US$74.44 per barrel.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist, Adam Mohamed Rahim said oil benchmark, Brent crude, dipped by 1.9% yesterday over concerns that the spread of a Covid-19 variant in Europe and Austria will lead to less travel, putting pressure on oil prices.

He said oil traders also remained on the sidelines ahead of a meeting between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies on crude production this week.

“Nevertheless, the RM150 billion Pemulih package announced by the government should cushion further losses of the ringgit,” he told Bernama.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced the package, aimed at providing comprehensive assistance to the people, yesterday.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies at the opening.

Against the British pound, it rose to 5.7490/7531 from 5.7700/7769 at yesterday’s close and strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9432/9468 from 4.9481/9541 previously.

However, the local unit declined slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.0867/0892 from 3.0865/0906 yesterday and dropped against the Japanese yen to 3.7523/7550 from 3.7439/7484 previously.