The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar today despite the US Treasury yields and early Asian session positions recording declines.
The fall was also due to the US Dollar Index (DXY) closing slightly higher.
At 9:50 am, the ringgit was trading at 3.8880, down 0.15% against the US dollar since Asian trading opened on Friday.
Director of Investment Strategy and National Economist at IPPFA Sdn Bhd, Mohd Sedek Jantan explained that the US dollar gained some support when the US labor market report showed some strengthening.
US weekly initial jobless claims fell to 212,000, beating the consensus expectation of 217,000, but still above the previous week's figure of 208,000.
He also noted that the DXY Index closed slightly higher by 0.09% to 97.797 points, while Brent crude oil was stable at around $70.75 a barrel as US-Iran talks appeared to be improving.
At the opening, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of currencies.
It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.4893/4978 from 2.4942 yesterday, surged against the euro to 4.5796/5949 from 4.5853/5924 and rose against the British pound to 5.2345/2520 from 5.2573/2654 previously.
At the same time, the ringgit also traded stronger against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Thai baht to 12.4759/5269 from 12.5169/5435 and gained against the Philippine peso to 6.73/6.76 from 6.74/6.76.
It also rose slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.0701/0809 from 3.0755/0805 and strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 231.5/232.3 from 231.5/232.3 previously.
