The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar, despite positive US labour market data showing a positive increase that supported the US dollar.
At 10:30am, the ringgit was at 4.1450, up 0.22% against the US dollar since opening early Friday in the Asian session.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid explained that the latest NFP employment report showed 119,000 jobs were created in September, beating market expectations.
He also said the high participation rate showed the labour market remained resilient, which may prompt the US Federal Reserve to maintain interest rates at its December meeting.
The ringgit closed 0.24% lower against the US dollar yesterday, but is expected to continue to find short-term technical support with trading in the RM4.15-RM4.17 range today.
At the opening, the ringgit was trading higher against a basket of major currencies.
It rose against the British pound to 5.4314/4484 from 5.4367/4472, rose against the euro to 4.7879/8029 from 4.7916/8008 and strengthened against the yen to 2.6377/6461 from 2.6446/6498 previously.
The ringgit also rose against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1751/1856 from 3.1809/1873 yesterday, and rose against the Thai baht to 12.7856/8356 from 12.8093/8395 previously.
It also rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 248.0/248.9 from 248.3/248.9 yesterday, and rose against the Philippine peso to 7.03/7.05 from 7.04/7.05 previously.
