The ringgit continued to strengthen against the US dollar in early trading on Friday following positive demand for the local currency to continue its rise.
At 10.30am, the ringgit was positive to 4.6590 against the USD from 4.6600 at the close of trading on Thursday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Dr Afzanizam said the ringgit will trade stable against the US dollar due to continued expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will lower interest rates.
United States (US) economic growth in the second quarter of 2024 was higher than expected at 2.8 percent compared to the consensus estimate of 2.0 percent and higher than 1.4 percent in the previous quarter.
Also, initial jobless claims were also lower to 235,000 last week compared to the consensus forecast of 237,000.
Meanwhile, the local currency is mostly high against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency rose against the Japanese yen to 3.0363/0398 from 3.0598/0616 yesterday, strengthening against the pound to 5.9978/6.0042 from 6.0039/0072.
However, it eased against the euro to 5.0629/0684 from 5.0570/0597 yesterday.
However, the ringgit is mostly low against Asean currencies.
The local currency rose against the Thai baht to 12.8789/8991 from 12.8875/9005 on Thursday and eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4733/4773 from 3.4714/4735 yesterday.
Against the rupiah, the local currency slipped to 287.0/287.5 from 286.7/287.0 and against the peso to 7.96/7.97 from 7.95/7.96 yesterday.
