The ringgit continued to rise and hit 4.12 at the opening on Wednesday, marking a new high in more than 13 months, boosted by a weaker US dollar following weak US economic data.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.1220, up 0.34% against the US dollar since it opened early Wednesday in Asian trading.
The local currency strengthened to its highest level in more than a year, the last seen on Sept 30, 2024, when the local currency was trading at 4.1210 at the close.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd investment strategy director and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan said the latest US Automatic Data Processing (ADP) jobs data indicated the US labour market was tightening.
It was reported that for the four weeks ending Oct 25, private employers shed an average of 11,250 jobs per week.
Weaker-than-expected private sector wage growth in October reinforced market confidence that the Fed's rate hike cycle may be over, sending the US dollar index lower overnight.
The move also boosted sentiment towards risk-sensitive Asian currencies, putting the ringgit on a stronger footing.
With the dollar's momentum waning and Malaysia's domestic economic fundamentals remaining solid, the near-term outlook for the ringgit is seen to remain positive, supported by renewed foreign interest and growing confidence in the local market.
At the open, the ringgit opened stronger against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit rose against the yen to 2.6788/6864 from 2.6798/6822 at Tuesday's close, and strengthened against the euro to 4.7825/7958 from 4.7829/7869. The ringgit also gained against the British pound to 5.4294/4445 from 5.4297/4343 previously.
Overall, the ringgit also traded higher against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1733/1824 from 3.1752/1784 at Tuesday's close, and strengthened against the Philippine peso to 7.00/7.02 from 7.01/7.02.
The ringgit also rose against the Thai baht to 12.7427/7892 from 12.7595/7762, and was higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 247.2/248.1 from 247.7/248.0 previously.
