The ringgit opened slightly lower against the US dollar early Thursday driven by improved US dollar sentiment.
At 10am, the ringgit was at RM4.7090 against the USD from its close of 4.7055 yesterday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is likely to trade slightly lower today as technical charts show USD/MYR to be in the neutral zone.
The US Dollar Index (DXY) remained above 105 points due to the weakness of the euro, the Japanese yen and the pound sterling which accounted for more than 80% of the index's movement.
In short, the outlook for a strong US dollar in the near term remains dominant.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies in early trade.
The local unit rose against the Japanese yen to 2.9797/9828 from Wednesday's close of 2.9806/9821 and rose slightly against the British pound to 5.9872/9929 from 5.9896/9922.
However, it weakened against the euro to 5.0592/0641 from 5.0518/0540 previously.
The ringgit traded mostly lower than its Asean peers.
It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4856/4892 from 3.4832/4850 yesterday and fell against the Thai baht to 12.8420/8585 from 12.8257/8354.
It also fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 287.6/288.1 from 287.4/287.7 at Wednesday's close, while unchanged against the Philippine peso at 8.01/8.02.
