The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar today as market sentiment remained subdued after global markets prepared for the US presidential election to be held in November.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.3570 which is 0.46% lower against the US dollar than it closed at 4.3405 at the end of Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said next week's US presidential election will be the main agenda especially when opinion polls show a very tight competition between the two candidates.
In addition, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) did not manage to obtain a majority of seats in the general election in Japan causing uncertainty about the formation of the coalition and the next policies that will be set.
The yen weakened against the USD by 0.42% to 15.95 yen following political concerns in Japan.
He said again, the US dollar index (DXY) rose 0.09 percent to 104,353 points.
In the early session, the ringgit was higher against a group of major currencies.
It rose against the yen to 2.8401/8533 from 2.8554/8586 at last Friday's close, it rose against the British pound to 5.6246/6499 from 5.6348/6407 and rose against the euro to 4.6872/7083 from 4.6977/7026 previously.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It strengthened against the Singapore dollar at 3.2807/2957 from 3.2870/2907 at last Friday's close, but eased against the Thai baht to 12.8577/12.9228 from 12.8425/8619 previously.
The local currency was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.44/7.48 from 7.44/7.45 at the previous close and also unchanged against the Indonesian rupiah at 277.3/278.7 from 277.3/277.8 last Friday.
