The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Wednesday as investors expected Malaysia's preliminary estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter (2Q) to show a positive performance.
At 10am, the ringgit was at RM4.0650, up 0.27% since it opened early Wednesday in Asian trading.
Malaysia's preliminary second-quarter GDP estimate data is scheduled to be announced on Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expects the country's economy to continue to maintain momentum with growth exceeding 5.0% in the quarter.
He projected GDP to expand by 5.1%.
According to him, the growth will be supported by still strong external demand, especially for exports of electrical and electronic products (E&E) and commodities.
However, he said more cautious consumer spending is expected to limit the rate of economic growth.
Private consumption growth has been below average for the past three quarters and the same trend is expected to continue in the second quarter of 2026.
In other developments, he said the US inflation data for June, which was lower than expected, is likely to affect foreign exchange market sentiment.
The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) recorded its biggest monthly decline since May 2020, when it fell by 0.4% month-on-month in June, larger than the market expectation of a 0.1% decline.
The decline was driven by a sharp drop in petrol prices which reduced transportation costs.
Following this, the US Treasury bond yields for two-year and 10-year terms fell by eight basis points and four basis points to 4.18% and 4.58% respectively.
He said this gave the ringgit room to continue strengthening and potentially break through the RM4.05 level against the US dollar on the day.
In early trade, the ringgit was traded mixed against major world currencies.
The ringgit strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5117/5143 from 2.5131/5157 on Tuesday.
However, the ringgit depreciated against the British pound to 5.4571/4625 from 5.4533/4586, and weakened against the euro to 4.6545/6591 from 4.6470/6516.
Against regional currencies, the ringgit was also traded mixed.
The ringgit rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 225.1/225.5 from 225.3/225.6 at Tuesday's close.
However, the ringgit weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.1562/1595 from 3.1533/1567, weakened against the Thai baht to 12.1695/1873 from 12.1556/1722, while unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.60/6.61.
