The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar in early trade, supported by the US dollar's weakness following reports of a gradual implementation of tariffs and an unexpected decline in US producer inflation.
At 10.15am, the ringgit was at 4.5030 against the US dollar from its close of 4.5000 at the end of Tuesday's trading.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid commented that the ringgit is likely to remain within the current range of RM4.50 to RM4.51 until the direction of global policy becomes clearer.
He noted that market sentiment around US interest rates has changed from expectations of a rate cut to a hold, supporting the dollar.
The US Dollar Index (DXY) fell to 109.273 points after news of a potential tariff hike broke earlier this week.
In addition, the US Producer Price Index (PPI) in December remained high with the headline PPI rising to 3.3% from 3.0% in the previous month and the core PPI remaining at 3.5%.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed against major currencies.
It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8474/8526 from 2.8510/8553 but weakened against the euro and British pound, trading at 4.6373/6455 and 5.4941/5038 respectively.
Against Asean currencies, the ringgit performed mixed.
It rose against the Philippine peso at 7.67/7.69 from 7.68/7.70 and the Indonesian rupiah at 276.5/277.2 from 276.7/277.3.
However, it depreciated against the Thai baht, trading at 12.9687/13.0003 from 12.9500/9739 and fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2916/2977 from 3.2889/2939.
