The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar on Monday as hopes for an upcoming US rate cut rose, with the latest data showing a weaker US labour market.
At 10.20am, the ringgit was at 4.2360, up 0.90% against the US dollar from its close of 4.2750 at the close last Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Afzanizam Rashid said the US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data came in lower than expected and surprised the market.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday that the NFP was 73,000 for July, well below the market consensus of 110,000.
Afzanizam believes the US labour market is weak, raising the potential for a rate cut at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in September.
The US Dollar Index (DXY) has declined to 98.708 points while the 2-year US Treasury yield saw a sharp drop of 25 basis points to close at 3.69% last Friday.
He added that the ringgit may gain some strength today after falling 0.22% on Friday to 4.2782 and is likely to trade more positively.
However, the ringgit was lower against other major currencies in early trade.
It weakened against the Japanese yen to 2.8749/2.8887 from 2.8407/2.8452 on Friday, fell slightly against the British pound to 5.6296/5.6562 from 5.6208/5.6293, and was lower against the euro at 4.9075/4.9307 from 4.8752/4.8826.
However, it was mostly higher against regional currencies.
The ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.2873/3.3031 from Friday's close of 3.2907/3.2960, but weakened against the Thai baht to 13.0388/13.1084 from 13.0058/13.0319.
It rose against the Philippine peso to 7.28/7.32 from 7.35/7.36 last week and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 256.4/257.8 from 258.8/259.4.
