The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Wednesday, building on gains as weaker US jobs data fuelled expectations of an interest rate cut.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.2110, down 0.21% against the US dollar since it opened early Wednesday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the preliminary revision of the benchmark US NFP between April 2024 and March 2025 by the US Department of Labor showed an overestimation of employment, with 911,000 fewer jobs added during the period.
He added that the figure reinforced market confidence that the labour data was weak and the Fed would need to resume its rate-cutting cycle next week.
However, Mohd Afzanizam said investors would be closely watching the release of the US Producer Price Index (PPI) later today to gauge sentiment.
He said the consensus estimate showed PPI would remain at 3.3 per cent in August while core PPI is expected to ease from 3.7 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
The ringgit is likely to maintain its upward trend and hover around 4.20 to 4.22 per dollar.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was higher against major currencies in early trade.
It strengthened to 2.8497/8611 against the yen from 2.8711/8751 on Tuesday, rose to 5.6791/7014 against the pound from 5.7095/7170, and rose to 4.9154/9347 against the euro from 4.9451/9516.
Against Asean currencies, the ringgit traded mostly stronger.
It rose to 3.2735/2866 against the Singapore dollar from 3.2824/2870 yesterday and to 13.2174/2794 against the baht from 13.2688/2925.
The local currency was little changed at 254.8/255.9 against the rupiah from 254.9/255.4 on Tuesday and was steady at 7.37/7.40 against the peso from 7.37/7.39 previously.
