The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar in early trade as the US dollar strengthened, supported by an improvement in the US labour market and a robust economy.
At 10am, the ringgit was at 4.5100, down 0.38% against the US dollar from its close of 4.4945 at the end of Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US labour market remained resilient with the latest US NFP data beating expectations. December saw 256,000 jobs added, beating the consensus estimate of 160,000.
He added that the policy uncertainty under Trump 2.0 and the strong US economy were driving strong demand for the US dollar.
The positive development gave the impression that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would not lose its grip on monetary policy and made the case for further interest rate cuts more challenging.
He added that the US Dollar Index (DXY) is currently hovering at a high of around 109.706 points.
This is the highest level since September 2022, a period when the Fed was actively raising interest rates and the ringgit is likely to remain weak in the near term.
Meanwhile, the ringgit opened mixed against major currencies.
It fell against the Japanese yen to 2.8557/8614 from Friday's close of 2.8461/8497 but rose against the British pound to 5.5040/5144 from 5.5296/5364. It also rose against the euro to 4.6200/6288 from 4.6298/6355 previously.
However, the ringgit was traded lower against Asean currencies.
It fell against the Thai baht to 12.9960/13.0461 from 12.9824/13.0043 at Friday's close and fell lower against the Indonesian rupiah to 278.5/279.2 from 277.5/278.0.
The ringgit also weakened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2881/2948 from 3.2843/2888 previously and weakened against the Philippine peso to 7.72/7.74 from 7.70/7.71 at Friday's close.
