The ringgit strengthened against the US dollar at the opening today, boosted by confidence in the upcoming Budget 2025 to be announced this Friday.
Overall market sentiment remained jittery due to concerns over the monetary stance of China and the United States.
At 10.20am, the ringgit was at 4.2980 which is 0.16% lower against the USD than it closed at 4.2945 on Monday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US economy is clearly at the forefront with the Fed unlikely to set aggressive monetary easing and there are also concerns over China's stimulus not meeting expectations from economists.
Now, the market is looking forward to monetary moves by both China and the United States and demand for the US dollar will remain strong. Therefore, the dollar-ringgit will remain around the current level.
At the opening, the ringgit was mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.8666/8774 from 2.8743/8778 on Monday and rose against the euro to 4.6823/6992 from 4.6935/6989 yesterday. However, it fell against the British pound to 5.6086/6288 from 5.6056/6121 yesterday.
The ringgit is also seen high in most Asean currencies.
It rose against the Thai baht to 12.8927/9482 from 12.9310/9538 yesterday, traded better against the Singapore dollar at 3.2815/2936 from 3.2868/2909 at Monday's close, and slightly higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 275.7/276.8 from yesterday. 275.8/276.3.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was almost unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.47/7.50 compared to 7.47/7.49 yesterday.
