The ringgit was little changed against the US dollar on Wednesday morning as traders adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which will take place tonight.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.2300, stable positive against the US dollar from its close of 4.2320 on Tuesday.
It was reported that the FOMC is expected to leave rates unchanged and attention will be on whether Fed Chairman Jerome Powell offers any indication of a September rate cut.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Afzanizam Rashid said the US Dollar Index (DXY) rose to 98.886 points as the market prepared for the FOMC decision.
He added that the US economic data picture was mixed with the JOLTS reporting that the number of job openings in June fell to 7.44 million from 7.51 million from the previous month.
On a more positive note, Afzanizam said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its 2025 global gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 3.0% from 2.8%.
Similarly, for Malaysia, the economic growth forecast has been raised to 4.5% from 4.1%.
This suggests that the impact from the US tariff shock will be managed fairly.
At the opening, the ringgit traded higher against most major currencies, but fell against the Japanese yen to 2.8498/2.8570 from 2.8479/2.8511 at Tuesday's close.
It appreciated against the British pound to 5.6483/5.6617 from 5.6518/5.6578 yesterday and rose against the euro to 4.8861/4.8976 from 4.8990/4.9042 previously.
The ringgit was mixed against its regional peers.
It was almost flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 257.7/258.5 from 257.8/258.2 yesterday, rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.2842/3.2922 from 3.2875/3.2913, was slightly higher against the Philippine peso to 7.37/7.40 from 7.37/7.40, but weakened against the Thai baht to 13.0556/13.0969 from 13.0537/13.0740 previously.
