The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar on Monday amid uncertainty over the smooth movement of ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the strength of the US economy.
At 10am, the ringgit was at RM4.0750, down 0.20% since it opened early Monday in Asian trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the fragile ceasefire following the ongoing attacks between the US and Iran has caused crude oil prices and US Treasury yields to remain high.
He said the US Dollar Index (DXY) is currently at 100.952 points.
Accordingly, he expects the ringgit to move sideways against the US dollar in the range of RM4.06 to RM4.08.
According to him, the market focus this week will be on several important US economic data, including the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI) and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.
In addition, investors will also pay attention to several speeches by Federal Reserve (Fed) officials for clues on the direction of US interest rates.
All these factors are expected to determine the direction of currency market movements throughout the week.
At the opening session, the ringgit strengthened against most major world currencies and ASEAN currencies.
The ringgit traded higher against the Japanese yen to 2.5144/5182 from 2.5148/5181 at Friday's close.
The ringgit also strengthened against the British pound to 5.4490/4571 from 5.4572/4639, and increased against the euro to 4.6422/6490 from 4.6502/6559.
Against ASEAN currencies, the ringgit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1492/1541 from 3.1520/1561, and strengthened slightly against the Thai baht to 12.2032/2278 from 12.2101/2302.
However, the ringgit was almost unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.61/6.63 from 6.61/6.62 previously, while it depreciated slightly against the Indonesian rupiah to 225.3/225.7 from 225.2/225.6.
