The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar early this week, although the US Dollar Index (DXY) recorded a strengthening as the market reassessed the direction of US monetary policy following weaker jobs data.
At 9:46 am, the ringgit opened at 4.0680, strengthening 0.05% against the US dollar since opening early Monday in the Asian session.
Director of Investment Strategy and National Economist of IPPFA Sdn Bhd, Mohd Sedek Jantan explained that the weaker NFP jobs data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would keep interest rates unchanged this month.
He also noted that the NFP jobs report only increased by 50,000 jobs in December 2025, down from 56,000 in November and below the market consensus of 60,000.
At the opening, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of other major currencies.
It rose against the euro to 4.7376/7492 from 4.7383/7459 last Friday, rose against the Japanese yen to 2.5768/5833 from 2.5805/5848, but weakened against the British pound to 5.4581/4714 from 5.4579/4666 previously.
However, the ringgit traded lower against ASEAN currencies.
It declined against the Indonesian rupiah to 242.2/242.9 from 241.9/242.4 and plunged against the Singapore dollar to 3.1650/1731 from 3.1629/1682.
It also depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.9992/13.0382 from 12.9474/9738 and remained unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.87/6.90 from 6.87/6.88 last week.
