At 6pm, the local currency improved 1.15% to 4.5390/4.5465 against the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.5925/4.5980.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said the Xi-Biden meeting in Bali, Indonesia, lifted the sentiment on the ringgit after Biden said he believed there should not be a new cold war with China.

“A thawing of US-China tensions is a huge positive for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.

Innes further said that despite China’s economic data for October coming in weaker than expected, sentiment remained firm on the back of the continued positive discussion out of the Xi-Biden meeting and G20 Summit.

“China’s stocks are also firmly inflated as investors continue chasing the reopening bounce (expected) higher,” he said.

Although the US and China still hold divergent views regarding Taiwan, human rights and trade policies, he said the meeting between both leaders delivered some warm signals on the US-China relations.

Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit also traded higher.

It rose vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.2573/3.2629 from 3.2738/3.2782 at yesterday’s close and increased against the euro to 4.7242/4.7320 from 4.7381/4.7438 yesterday.

The local currency appreciated versus the British pound to 5.3678/5.3767 from 5.4187/5.4252 yesterday and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.3194/3.3252 from 3.3405/3.3450 previously.