The ringgit opened slightly stronger against the US dollar early this morning, buoyed by last week's positive momentum as the US dollar continued to weaken ahead of the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting starting tomorrow.
At 11:00 am, the ringgit was at 4.1060, up 0.02% against the US dollar since opening early Monday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid explained that traders and investors were expecting a 25 basis point cut, as the Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to focus on stimulating growth amid signs of a weaker economic outlook.
He also noted that the ringgit is expected to continue to find support with the dollar-ringgit rate likely to be in the range of RM4.11 to RM4.12.
At the opening, the ringgit also strengthened against other major currencies.
It rose against the British pound to 5.4671/4951 from 5.4859/4905, rose against the euro to 4.7769/8013 from 4.7912/7953 and strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.6426/6563 from 2.6536/6561 previously.
The ringgit also traded higher against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1663/3.1827 from 3.1741/3.1773 at last Friday's close and was marginally higher against the Philippine peso to 6.96/7.00 from 6.97/6.98.
It also rose against the Thai baht to 12.8403/12.9133 from 12.9054/12.9221 and was unchanged against the Indonesian rupiah at 246.4/247.8 from 246.8/247.2 previously.
