KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- The ringgit appreciated against the US dollar Wednesday on commercial buying, mostly spurred by interest in the local bourse, a dealer said.

At 5pm, the ringgit was higher at 3.1955/1985 from 3.2055/2085 at Tuesday's close.

The dealer said a strong start to the US corporate earnings season drove risk appetite and also helped the ringgit, which has climbed 7.1 per cent against the greenback to date.

A surprise widening of the US trade deficit in May, also weighed on the dollar, he added.

ECM Libra Investment Research said today that Asian currencies, including the ringgit, are supported by robust domestic economies, improvement on exports and selective money tightening, vis-a-vis the US dollar and European currencies.

The ringgit however decreased against the Singapore dollar to 2.3223/3265 from 2.3154/3193 on Tuesday while rising against the Japanese yen to 3.5937/5987 from 3.6237/6295 previously.

The ringgit also eased against the British pound to 4.8731/8790 from 4.8259/8317 previously and against the euro at 4.0640/0688 from 4.0203/0257 previously.