KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower amid worries over the number of daily COVID-19 cases in the country, reaching a record high of 19,819 cases yesterday.

       At 9.07 am, the local note weakened to 4.2240/2270 versus the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.2180/2230.

       Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd economist Adam Mohamed Rahim said the number of vaccination doses administered per day has also dropped below the 500,000 doses mark of late.

       "The weakness in the ringgit also coincided with the rise in the US crude stockpiles by 3.6 million barrels in the week to July 30 to 439.2 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed.

       "Analysts tracked by Investing.com had expected a drawdown of 3.1 million barrels instead," he told Bernama.

       Adam said the weekly build in crude suggested that demand for energy might be slowing as COVID-19 caseloads across the world were ramping up again from the Delta variant of the virus.

       Meanwhile, the local note was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

       The ringgit rose vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9987/5.0022 from from yesterday’s close of 5.0017/0076 and gained against the British pound to 5.8659/8700 from 5.8778/8848.

       The ringgit was higher against the Japanese yen at 3.8526/8553 from 3.8633/8679 at Wednesday’s close and appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1252/1276 from 3.1265/1305. - Bernama