The ringgit opened higher against major currencies, but weakened against the US dollar this morning as cautious global sentiment continued to pressure emerging market currencies.
At 9:42am, the ringgit was trading at 3.9300, down 0.43% against the US dollar since opening early Thursday in the Asian session.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit was pressured by rising global uncertainty, especially amid geopolitical tensions and the US (US) monetary policy review.
He also noted that Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell stressed that the risk of conflict in Iran remained uncertain, while new US import tariffs were expected to impact inflation.
According to Mohd Afzanizam, Fed staff had raised their inflation forecast for 2026 from 2.4% to 2.7%, while the Fed Funds Rate was projected at 3.4%, indicating the possibility of a rate cut this year.
At the open, the ringgit traded higher against other major currencies.
It rose against the Japanese yen to 2.4590/4654 from 2.4627/4668 yesterday, rose against the euro to 4.5046/5160 from 4.5166/5235 and strengthened against the British pound to 5.2128/2260 from 5.2290/2370.
The ringgit was also mixed against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Thai baht to 11.9729/12.0122 from 12.0878/12.1130 and rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.0617/0700 from 3.0668/0718 previously.
However, it declined against the Philippine peso to 6.60/6.62 from 6.57/6.59 and depreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 232.0/232.7 from 231.0/231.6 previously.
