The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar this morning, extending gains from Wednesday's close as investors await the Bank Negara Malaysia Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)'s decision on the overnight policy rate (OPR) later today.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.1830, up 0.14% since it opened early Thursday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the central bank is expected to maintain the OPR at 2.75%, citing the resilience of the Malaysian economy as reflected in the third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.2%.
The US dollar-ringgit pair is expected to remain around RM4.19 today.
He added that overall sentiment in the local market remained positive even though the US Dollar Index (DXY) was hovering near 100 points.
However, issues over the government shutdown and tariffs weighed on business sentiment as government service delivery was disrupted as business costs increased due to higher import tariffs.
At the open, the ringgit performed mixedly against major currencies.
It was marginally lower against the British pound at 5.4642/4799 from 5.4612/4658 and also depreciated against the euro to 4.8124/8262 from 4.8106/8147. However, it rose against the Japanese yen to 2.7116/7245 from 2.7254/7279.
The local currency also advanced against most of its ASEAN peers.
It rose to 3.2039/2133 against the Singapore dollar from 3.2055/2085 and strengthened against the Philippine peso to 7.11/7.14 from 7.12/7.13. Meanwhile, it was barely changed at 250.4/251.2 against the Indonesian rupiah and depreciated slightly against the Thai baht to 12.8776/9244 from 12.8730/8893.
