The ringgit opened weaker against the United States (US) dollar this morning and is expected to continue moving in a narrow range ahead of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation report due on Thursday.
At 10am, the ringgit was at RM4.1420, down 0.10% since it opened early Wednesday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar remained supported by stronger-than-expected economic data.
According to him, the hawkish stance of US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials continued to influence the currency market as the latest data showed the US economy was still relatively resilient despite rising fuel prices.
He said the US Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) readings for the manufacturing and services sectors in June recorded 55.7 points and 51.3 points respectively, higher than the market expectation of 54.6 points and 51.1 points.
At the opening of trading, the ringgit was mostly traded lower against major world currencies.
The ringgit weakened against the British pound to 5.4887/4973 compared to 5.4750/4816 at Tuesday's close.
It also weakened against the euro to 4.7345/7419 from 4.7223/7280 previously, and depreciated slightly against the Japanese yen to 2.5648/5690 from 2.5638/5669.
The local currency was also traded lower against most regional currencies.
The ringgit weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2030/2085 from 3.1959/2000 at Tuesday's close, and weakened against the Thai baht to 12.5637/5899 from 12.4845/5053 previously.
In addition, the ringgit fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 232.2/232.7 from 231.6/232.0 at yesterday's close, but strengthened against the Philippine peso to 6.78/6.79 from 6.74/6.75 previously.
