The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Friday as the greenback weakened after weak US (US) jobs data raised expectations of an interest rate cut.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.2080, up 0.26% against the US dollar since it opened early Friday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the latest US Consumer Price Index (CPI) was in line with forecasts, but Initial Jobless Claims rose to 263,000 last week, well above market expectations of 235,000.
The US August CPI rose 2.9%, in line with consensus estimates and up from 2.7% in July. Core CPI remained steady at 3.1% for the second consecutive month, after rising 2.9% in June.
He added that the CPI print was in line with expectations, paving the way for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates next week.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It fell to 2.8569/8680 against the yen from 2.8509/8548 at Thursday's close, weakened to 5.7095/7312 against the pound from 5.6954/7028, and eased to 4.9351/9538 against the euro from 4.9293/9357.
Against ASEAN currencies, local currencies were mostly stronger. It strengthened to 255.5/256.6 against the rupiah from 256.2/256.7, rose to 3.2817/2945 against the Singapore dollar from 3.2829/2874, and rose to 7.35/7.39 against the peso from 7.37/7.39
It however fell to 13.2576/3156 against the baht from 13.2432/2663 previously
