The ringgit rose slightly in early trade on Monday as the US dollar rose moderately after the release of mixed US NFP data for November.
At 10.15am, the ringgit was at 4.4290, down 0.27% against the USD from its close of 4.4170 at the end of Friday.
US labour market data released on Friday showed Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) rose by 227,000 in November, far exceeding the market estimate of 200,000 but the unemployment rate rose to 4.2% in November from 4.1%, as expected.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia, Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said market expectations for a 25 basis point rate cut this month remained intact.
However, he said the ringgit was likely to remain contained as demand for the US dollar was likely to remain supportive.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was mostly traded higher against other major currencies.
It rose against the British pound to 5.6237/6397 from 5.6352/6416, appreciated against the euro to 4.6596/6728 from 4.6719/6771, and depreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.9430/9516 from 2.9329/9364 on Friday.
In addition, the local unit traded stronger against Asean currencies.
It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.2887/2985 from 3.2963/3002 on Friday, rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 278.4/279.4 from 278.7/279.2, rose against the Thai baht to 12.9501/9998 and was slightly higher at 12.9784 from 12.9784 against the Philippine peso at 7.64/7.66 from 7.65/7.66
