The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar in early trading on Friday ahead of Chairman Jerome Powell's speech today at the Jackson Hole Symposium which will kick off the event.
At exactly 10.20am, the ringgit was at 4.3800 which is 0.9% lower against the US dollar than it closed at 4.3760 on Thursday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist, Dr Afzanizam said market participants are now more cautious about the US economic outlook ahead of the potential interest rate cut in September.
He also said that the US Dollar Index (DXY) increased by 0.5% to 101.508 points overnight while the two-year US Treasury yield which is usually sensitive to the Fed Funds Rate increased by seven basis points to 3.99%.
The ringgit is likely to remain flat at around RM4.37 to RM4.38 as the market awaits more guidance from the Fed chairman.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded higher against a group of major currencies.
It strengthened the Japanese yen to 2.9912/2.9984 from 3.0051/3.0082 at Thursday's close, rose to the euro to 4.8621/4.8733 from 4.8744/4.8789 and appreciated against the British pound to 5.7413 from 5.7282.
Local notes also traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.
It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.3379/3.3461 from 3.3474/3.3507 at Thursday's close, slightly higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 280.3/281.1 from 280.4/280.9 and rose against the Thai baht to 12.6702/12.7109 from 12.7383/12.7552 previously.
However, it was almost flat against the Philippine peso at 7.76/7.79 from 7.76/7.78 at yesterday's close.
