The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar in early trade today amid cautious sentiment following mixed data from the US PMI index for the manufacturing and services sectors.
At 10.20am, the ringgit was at 4.4410, up 0.20% against the US dollar from its close of 4.4500 at the end of Monday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Afzanizam Rashid said the US PMI index for manufacturing fell more than expected to 48.3 points in December compared to market expectations of 49.5 points.
He added that the 25 basis point cut was already set with interest rate derivatives projecting a 95% chance of it this week.
The main issue is the outlook for next year. As such, the market will be paying attention to the dot plot chart to gauge the possibility of further rate cuts based on the poll of FOMC members which is usually published quarterly.
The ringgit traded weaker against other major currencies.
The local note strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8865/2.8932 from 2.8930/2.8964 previously.
It depreciated against the British pound to 5.6441/5.6568 from Monday's close of 5.6301/5.6365 and fell against the euro to 4.6769/4.6874 from 4.6743/4.6795 at Monday's close.
The ringgit traded mostly higher against its Asean counterparts.
It rose marginally against the Singapore dollar to 3.2960/3.3039 from 3.2992/3.3032 at yesterday's close, rose against the Thai baht to 13.0456/13.0873 from 13.0575/13.0795 and improved against the Indonesian rupiah 277.9. 278.6 compared to 277.0/278.5.
Since yesterday, the local currency has been unchanged at 7.58/7.60 against the Philippine peso
