The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar, despite conflicting statements from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials raising uncertainty among investors on the direction of the US dollar.
At 10:30 am, the ringgit was at 4.1380, strengthening 0.19% against the US dollar since opening early Monday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Afzanizam Abdul Rashid explained that senior Fed officials had different views on the interest rate outlook.
He also said the Boston Fed President was reluctant to support a December interest rate cut due to mixed labor market signals and inflation risks.
Meanwhile, the New York Fed President stressed that the current monetary policy is limited, but may leave room for a cut in the benchmark interest rate.
The ringgit is expected to trade in the range of RM4.14 and RM4.15 today.
At the opening, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the yen to 2.6447/2.6548 from 2.6453/2.6479 and rose against the euro to 4.7679/4.7858 from 4.7779/4.7819, but weakened slightly against the British pound at 5.4263/5.4466 from 5.4143/5.4188 previously.
The ringgit was also mixed against its ASEAN counterparts.
It fell against the Thai baht to 12.7649/12.8230 from 12.7601/12.7759 yesterday, and strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 247.8/248.9 from 248.0/248.3 previously.
It remained stable against the Philippine peso at 7.04/7/07 from 7.04/7.05 and was unchanged against the Singapore dollar at 3.1695/3.1816 from 3.1695/3.1724 last Friday.
