The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar as the market increasingly expects a US (US) interest rate cut in December, adding to pressure on the US dollar.
At 11:00 am, the ringgit was at 4.1320, down 0.05% against the US dollar since opening early Wednesday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Afzanizam Abdul Rashid explained that the US Dollar Index (DXY) fell below 100 points to 99.809 following the latest US data which was lower than initially expected.
Meanwhile, the US two-year and 10-year Treasury yields fell three basis points respectively, ending at 3.43% and 4.01%.
He also noted that US retail sales for September only increased 0.2% month-on-month, well below the consensus forecast of 0.6%.
The ringgit is expected to trade in a range of 4.12 to 4.13, driven by rising expectations of interest rate cuts that continue to weigh on market sentiment.
At the open, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the yen to 2.6408/6485 from 2.6420/6451, but depreciated against the euro to 4.7706/7839 from 4.7635/7687 yesterday and declined against the British pound to 5.4285/4436 from 5.4235/4294 previously.
The ringgit was also traded higher against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1684/1775 from 3.1708/1745, rose against the Philippine peso to 7.00/7.02 from 7.01/7.02 and strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 247.6/248.5 from 247.9/248.3.
