The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar as investors remained cautious following higher-than-expected inflation ahead of global central bank policy updates.
At 10.20am, the ringgit was at 4.4300, up 0.27% against the USD from its close of 4.4420 in early trade on Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the broader market tone for the US Dollar Index (DXY) was softer amid early jobless claims last week which rose to 223,000 against the consensus estimate of 221,000.
He added that the market's focus was on US President Donald Trump's unsurprising interest rate cut during his speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The policy makes the US Federal Reserve (Fed)'s job more appropriate as the US central bank has already enacted monetary easing since September this year.
Dr Afzanizam sees market participants remaining cautious and he expects the US dollar against the ringgit to hover around RM4.44 to RM4.45 today.
At the opening, the ringgit was mostly traded higher against other major currencies.
It rose higher against the Japanese yen to 2.8388/8495 from 2.8429/8461 on Thursday, appreciated against the euro to 4.6155/6321 from 4.6246/6293, but depreciated against the British pound to 5.4735/4933 from 5.4703/4759.
Similarly, the local currency also strengthened against Asean currencies.
It rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 272.1/273.2 from 272.7/273.1 yesterday, strengthened against the Philippine peso to 7.55/7.58 from 7.57/7.58, rose against the Thai baht to 13.0250/0835 from 13.0582/089, and was higher against the Singapore dollar to 3.2648/2776 from 3.2734/2770.
