The ringgit continued its upward trend following last Friday's close by opening higher today amid the weakness of the US dollar and lower US Treasury yields.
At 9am, the ringgit was higher at 4.7330/7400 against the US dollar than it closed at 4.7370 last week.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Mohd Afzanizam said the ringgit should be in a better position today following the lower-than-expected US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data last Friday.
The data supports the view that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is on track to cut rates this year.
This will also provide support to emerging market currencies including the ringgit.
It was reported that US Treasury yields slipped about seven basis points to 4.5% on Friday after the April US jobs report showed weaker-than-expected payrolls growth and an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It gained against the Japanese yen to 3.0850/0900 from 3.0947/0968 at Friday's close, strengthened against the British pound to 5.9404/9492 from 5.9487/9525 but eased against the euro to 5.0960/50.929 from 5.0960/50369.
The local note traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Thai baht to 12.8702/8969 from 12.8723/8850 on Friday and rose slightly against the Indonesian rupiah to 294.2/294.8 from 294.4/294.8 previously.
The ringgit eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.5051/5106 from 3.5027/5054 on Friday and weakened against the Philippine peso to 8.27/8.30 from 8.25/8.27 a week earlier.
