The ringgit traded higher against the US dollar in the early session on Monday to extend the positive momentum from last week driven by continued buying interest in the local currency.
At 10.30 am, the ringgit rose to 4.2960, which is up 0.14% against the USD from 4.3045 at the close of last week.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said as China was seen as more receptive to setting further monetary stimulus to support growth, emerging market currencies including the ringgit were seen to remain positive during the day.
He also said that market participants are still digesting the recently announced Budget 2025 where fiscal consolidation is expected to continue with the fiscal deficit likely to shrink to 3.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2025 from an estimated 4.3% in 2024.
In the early trading session, the ringgit was mostly lower against a group of major currencies.
It fell against the euro to 4.6680/6827 from 4.6674/6706 at Friday's close and eased against the Japanese yen to 2.8759/8851 from 2.8708/8730.
However, the local currency strengthened against the British pound to 5.6046/6222 from 5.6109/6148 previously.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed against Asean currencies.
The local note depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.9792/13.0363 from 12.9579/9916 on Friday.
The ringgit was almost unchanged against the Singapore dollar at 3.2791/2897 from 3.2791/2817 on Friday, but it rose against the Philippine peso to 7.47/7.50 from 7.48/7.49 and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 277.4/278.5 from 278.0/278.3 previously.
