The ringgit rebounded by opening slightly higher against the United States (US) dollar on Friday driven by positive sentiment ahead of the release of Malaysia's second quarter 2024 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figure today.
At 8am, the ringgit rose to 4.6665/6710 against the US dollar from 4.6680/6710 at Thursday's close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, said he expected the preliminary forecast figures to be released today to be better than the 4.2% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
He also said that the better position of the first quarter GDP will encourage the ringgit to remain positive throughout the day.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) is scheduled to release Malaysia's preliminary GDP forecast for the second quarter of 2024 on Friday.
Meanwhile, the ringgit is trading high against several major currencies.
The local currency was stronger against the Japanese yen to 2.9685/9718 from 2.9827/9849 at Thursday's close and rose against the British pound to 6.0413/0471 from 6.0628/0667.
The ringgit was also higher against the euro to 5.0856/0905 from 5.1021/1054.
The local currency is also traded high mostly compared to the currencies of Asean countries.
The domestic unit rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.4716/4754 from 3.4807/4832 at yesterday's close and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 288.8/289.2 from 288.9/289.2.
It also rose against the Thai baht to 12.8927/9119 from 12.9750/9887 but was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 8.01/8.02 from yesterday.
