The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar following a rise in the US Dollar Index (DXY) as global markets focus on the NFP employment data to be released tonight.
At 10:25am, the ringgit opened at 4.0630, down 0.07% against the US dollar since opening early Friday in the Asian session.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd Investment and Economic Strategy Analyst Mohd Sedek Jantan explained that the strengthening of the US dollar is currently driven by high treasury yields in the range of 4.1 to 4.2% and is not a factor of concern in the market.
He also noted that the market is now increasingly expecting a more controlled economic slowdown rather than a drastic growth shock.
Meanwhile, the first full trading week of 2026 started with a strong performance, but was slightly affected by increased geopolitical uncertainty that prompted investors to shift to safe-haven currencies.
In the opening session, the ringgit was traded lower against a basket of currencies.
It depreciated against the British pound to 5.4613/4748 from 5.4535/4630, weakened against the Japanese yen to 2.5907/5972, but rose slightly against the euro to 4.7386/7502 from 4.7389/7471.
The ringgit also traded lower against ASEAN currencies.
It declined against the Indonesian rupiah to 241.9/242.6 from 241.5/242.1 and plunged against the Singapore dollar to 3.1627/1710 from 3.1602/1659.
It also declined against the Thai baht to 12.9265/9645 from 12.8731/9007 and contracted against the Philippine peso to 6.86/6.89 from 6.85/6.87 previously.
