The ringgit started today's trading flat against the US dollar as investors adopted a wait-and-see stance following Bank Negara Malaysia's recent decision to maintain stable interest rates which weighed on sentiment.
At 9.30am, the ringgit was at 4.4330, down 0.27% against the US dollar from its close of 4.4200 at the end of Monday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Afzanizam Rashid said technical charts still showed that USD/MYR was broadly neutral indicating that the ringgit could maintain its bound trade.
Therefore, USD/MYR could range between RM4.41 and RM4.42 as the market awaits the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data printout which will be published tomorrow night.
He noted that the consensus is writing headlines and the US core CPI is at 2.9% and 3.2% in February from 3.0% and 3.3% in January.
Lower inflation would be positive for the ringgit as the US Fed may be keen to cut interest rates to support the economy.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It fell against the Japanese yen to 3.0052/3.0105 from 3.0013/3.0039 at Monday's close, but rose against the British pound to 5.6908/5.7004 from 5.7080/5.7125 and improved against the euro to 4.7908/4.7990 from 4.7992/4.8030 previously.
The local currency, however, traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It rose against the Thai baht to 13.0272/13.0585 from Monday's close of 13.0777/13.0943 and rose against the Singapore dollar at 3.3156/3.3215 from yesterday's close of 3.3211/3.3242.
The ringgit was little changed against the Indonesian rupiah at 270.0/270.6 from 270.0/270.3 and the Philippine peso at 7.70/7.72 from 7.70/7.71 previously.
