Kuala lumpur: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on Monday, while it strengthened against other major currencies as market participants closely monitored unfolding geopolitical tensions in West Asia.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, at 8 am, the ringgit slipped to 4.1350/1445 against the greenback, compared to last Friday's close of 4.1340/1395. Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, Chief Economist at Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, noted that the ringgit is anticipated to trade cautiously amid ongoing US-Iran negotiations.

'Thus far, there has been newsflow that millions of barrels of oil continued to flow through the Straits of Hormuz over the weekend. This suggests an easing risk of tight crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies despite the ongoing tension,' he stated. Dr Mohd Afzanizam added that traders are also focusing on the upcoming release of the US Federal Reserve's primary inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures, scheduled for Thursday.

The ringgit is expected to trade sideways against the US dollar due to weak market sentiment. Meanwhile, WTI and Brent crude prices have risen by 2.43% and 1.28%, respectively, trading at US$77.69 and US$81.60 per barrel.

In contrast to the US dollar, the ringgit strengthened against the Japanese yen, moving to 2.5613/5674 from 2.5636/5671 at Friday's close, and rose against the British pound to 5.4619/4745 from 5.4709/4782. It slipped versus the euro, reaching 4.7404/7513 from 4.7376/7439.

The local currency showed mixed performance against regional currencies. It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.1992/2071 from 3.2019/2064 and strengthened against the Thai baht to 12.5503/5850 from 12.5856/6074 at last Friday's close. Against the Indonesian rupiah, the ringgit remained almost flat at 232.2/232.8 from 232.2/232.5 previously and was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.80/6.82 from 6.80/6.81.