The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar on Thursday, amid trade tensions between the US and China.
At 10.10am, the ringgit was at 4.2290, having remained flat against the US dollar since it opened early Thursday in the Asian session.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the US dollar index (DXY) fell 0.04% to 98.897 points, as signs of US-China trade uncertainty resurfaced, with the White House weighing its options to restrict exports of critical software.
At the same time, the administration of US President Donald Trump has also announced sanctions on Russia's largest oil producer due to the Russian government's lack of commitment to end the war in Ukraine.
Accordingly, the ringgit is expected to show positive momentum today with the dollar likely to hover around 4.21 and 4.22.
At the opening, the ringgit was mostly traded lower against major currencies.
It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.7791/2.7859 from 2.7849/2.7880 at Wednesday's close, but weakened against the British pound to 5.6386/5.6520 from 5.6309/5.6368 and eased against the euro to 4.9024/4.9140 from 4.9019/4.9072 previously.
The local note also traded mostly lower against its Asean counterparts.
It was marginally higher against the Singapore dollar at 3.2540/3.2619 from Wednesday's close of 3.2556/3.2593 and rose marginally against the Indonesian rupiah to 254.6/255.4 from 254.9/255.3 previously.
However, it fell against the Thai baht to 12.8647/12.9050 from 12.8573/12.8769, and remained unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.23/7.25 from yesterday's close.
