The ringgit opened slightly higher at 3.96 against the US dollar due to intervention from the United States (US) and Japanese authorities against the rising currency.
At 10:28 am, the ringgit was trading at 3.9600, strengthening by 0.08% against the US dollar since opening early Tuesday in the Asian session.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid explained that the local currency is expected to strengthen today due to the weakening US dollar.
He also noted that the Japanese yen strengthened against the US dollar as the possibility of intervention by the authorities was seen to be escalating.
At the opening, the ringgit was traded mixed against a basket of currencies.
It declined against the euro to 4.7076/7195 from 4.6999/7064, declined against the British pound to 5.4217/4354 from 5.4166/4241, but rose slightly against the Japanese yen to 2.5683/5750 from 2.5783/5820.
The ringgit was also mixed against its ASEAN counterparts.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1201/1282 from 3.1242/1288 and strengthened against the Thai baht to 12.6953/7343 from 12.7441/7679.
It depreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 236.2/236.9 from 236.0/236.4 and was virtually unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.72/67.4 from 6.72/6.73 previously.
