The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar on Monday amid cautious trading ahead of the US government's imposition of import tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.
At 9.30am, the ringgit was at 4.4540, recovering 0.13% against the US dollar from its close of 4.4600 at Friday's close.
The 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, while the 10% tariffs on China are expected to be implemented on March 4.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Afzanizam Rashid said the Federal Reserve's (Fed) headline inflation data, namely the US PCE data falling to 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively, in January 2025, indicated that monetary policy was warranted at higher risks.
In addition, the Fed is expected to keep rates steady until it is confident that inflation will move towards its two per cent target.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.9564/2.9605 from 2.9682/2.9717 at Friday's close, but weakened against the British pound to 5.6185/5.6255 from 5.6174/5.6237 at the end of last week and fell against the euro to 4.6423/4.6481 from 4.6362/4.6414.
In contrast, the local currency traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.
It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.3036/3.3081 from 3.3069/3.3108 on Friday, rose against the Thai baht to 13.0242/13.0498 from 13.0455/13.0670 and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 268.6/269.1 from 268.7/269.1.
However, the ringgit was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.69/7.70.
