KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit extended yesterday's loss to open slightly lower this morning dampened by a stronger US dollar, dealers said.

At 9 am, the ringgit was quoted at 4.4930/4980 against the greenback compared with 4.4900/4950 on Tuesday.

A dealer said the US dollar rallied to its highest level since 2002 after data showed solid growth in the country's manufacturing sector.

He added that the oil prices, which snapped its 18-month highs to finish weaker by more than two per cent in the overnight market, had also curbed risk appetite for the ringgit in early trade.

Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit was traded mixed.

It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0969/1023 from 3.0951/0991 on Tuesday and declined against the yen to 3.8063/8122 from 3.7990/7058 previously. The local currency, however, rose vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.4918/5006 from yesterday's 5.5169/5248 and strengthened against the euro to 4.6678/6748 from 4.6700/6761 previously. -- Bernama