The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar on Thursday amid mixed US economic signals.
At 9am, the ringgit rose to 4.6940 against the USD from Wednesday's close of 4.6970.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Dr Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US labor market continued to show weakness when the ADP Employment Growth data was less than expected which was 152,000 in May compared to the market target of around 188,000.
Reported survey of Purchasing Managers' Index (ISM) in May recorded a recovery to 53.8 points above market expectations of 50.8 points.
Meanwhile, the recent interest rate cut by the Bank of Canada (BoC) by 25 basis points seems to have increased the attractiveness of the US dollar as the market sees the Federal Reserve (Fed) as having no intention of cutting interest rates immediately.
For now, the ringgit is able to move tight throughout the day as the market will remain cautious ahead of the NFP report on Friday and the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week.
The ringgit is trading low against major currencies.
The local unit eased against the euro to 5.1085/1117 from 5.1070/1087 at Wednesday's close, eased against the Japanese yen to 3.0173/0194 from 3.0099/0111 and eased against the British pound to 6.0093/0131 from 6.0040/0023 previously.
The ringgit is mostly low compared to Asean peers.
It fell against the Thai baht to 12.8321/8453 from 12.7994/8091 at yesterday's close, slightly lower against the Singapore dollar to 3.4858/4883 from 3.4857/4871 and eased against the Philippine peso to 8.00/8.01 from 7.99/7.99.
The local note rose slightly against the Indonesian rupiah to 288.2/288.5 from 288.3/288.6 at yesterday's close.
