The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar on Friday following inflation reports that did not quite match forecasts from the United States.
At 10.30am, the ringgit was at 4.2830, up 0.12% against the USD from its close of 4.2910 on Thursday.
The US headline inflation rate for September came in at 2.4% year-on-year, beating the consensus estimate of 2.3%. Core inflation also increased by 3.3% for the same period above the forecast of 3.2%.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist, Dr Afzanizam Rashid said market sentiment remained cautious given the uncertainty surrounding the US interest rate cut.
Additionally, Brent crude oil prices remain high amid the risk that the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah/Iran conflict could escalate.
He also said that the growing uncertainty is pushing traders to be inclined towards safe currencies, especially the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the ringgit also gained against major currencies in early trading.
It strengthened to 4.6815/4.6924 against the euro from Thursday's close of 4.6918/4.6951, rose to 2.8788/2.8858 against the Japanese yen from 2.8820/2.8842 and rose to 5.5923/5.6054 against the British pound at 5.6122/5.6161.
The ringgit showed a mixed performance against Asean currencies.
It fell against the Thai baht to 12.7978/12.8353 from 12.7724/12.7866 but rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.2785/3.2864 from 3.2811/3.2836.
Also, the local currency rose to 7.47/7.49 against the Philippine peso from Thursday's close of 7.48/7.50 and rose against the Indonesian rupiah, trading at 273.1/273.8 compared to 273.6/274.0 the previous day.
