KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Malaysia’s ringgit heads for a third weekly loss as oil prices decline and the dollar strengthens. Traders are awaiting October inflation figures due at noon.

* USD/MYR has risen 0.1% this week to 4.1982 after climbing to a one-year high of 4.2005 on Wednesday; pair is little changed Friday

** Support 4.1604, 4.1227, 4.0900; resistance 4.2005, 4.2437, 4.2531

** Brent slid to $61.71 on Nov. 20, lowest since December

* Volatility in Asian FX may increase next week, as traders await the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping, says Mingze Wu, a Singapore-based foreign-exchange trader at Intl FCStone Global Payments

** Any signs of acrimony from either the U.S. or China would increase the likelihood of USD/MYR rising above 4.20

* MYR will only see gradual weakening pressure in an environment of Fed rate hikes and volatile oil prices, UOB senior economist Julia Goh said Thursday

** Ringgit will derive support from the govt’s efforts to boost transparency, underlying economic strength, low unemployment and current-account surplus

* CPI rose 0.6% in October y/y vs +0.3% in September: Bloomberg survey before Friday’s data

* Malaysian stocks will recover next year as confidence returns to the market following the recent budget announcement: RHB Investment Bank

* Goldman Sachs said Lloyd Blankfein held a meeting in 2012 with Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, who is at the center of the 1MDB scandal