The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar in Friday's trade after Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) kept the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3.00% and continued to reflect confidence in Malaysia's economic growth prospects.
At 10.30 am, the ringgit was at a position of 4.3320 which is a slight increase of 0.8% against the US dollar from where it closed at 4.3360 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, BNM maintains a stable interest rate because the current monetary policy stance remains supportive of the economy, which is in line with the central bank's assessment of inflation and growth prospects.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Dr Afzanizam said the US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to weaken to 101,070 points due to the expected drop in US interest rates.
Additionally, the release of ADP data came in well below expectations by recording 99,000 jobs in August compared to consensus estimates of 144,000 and 111,000 in the previous month.
Such data reinforces the push for a bigger rate cut at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
He also said that the ringgit is likely to trade sideways as market participants remain cautious ahead of the release of the NFP data.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded lower against a group of major currencies at the end of the week.
It weakened against the euro to 4.8138/4.8227 from 4.8099/4.8144 on Thursday, eased against the British pound to 5.7081/5.7186 from 5.7049/5.7101 and fell against the Japanese yen to 3.0213/3.02723
The ringgit traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It strengthened against the Indonesian rupiah to 281.2/281.9 from 281.5/281.9 and strengthened against the Philippine peso to 7.70/7.72 from 7.71/7.72.
However, it eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.3332/3.3396 from 3.3303/3.3336 and fell against the Thai baht to 12.8878/12.9197 from 12.8772/12.8940.
