The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar this morning as the market awaits the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision on interest rates early tomorrow morning (Thursday).
At 9.25am, the ringgit was at 4.4300, up 0.27% against the US dollar compared to 4.4450 at the end of Monday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market was expecting a more dovish stance from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) as it concluded its two-day meeting today.
He added that the Fed may be inclined to cut rates more often with the market expecting three rate cuts this year.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was mostly traded lower against a basket of major currencies.
It weakened against the euro to 4.8566/8648 from 4.8455/8499 on Monday and fell against the British pound to 5.7576/7628 from 5.7404/7463. However, it strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.9720/9772 from 2.9896/9925.
Against regional currencies, the ringgit performed mixedly.
It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.3360/3421 from 3.3351/3383 but strengthened against the Thai baht to 13.1961/2263 from 13.2213/2391.
The local currency also rose against the Indonesian rupiah at 270.2/270.8 from 270.9/271.2 and rose slightly against the Philippine peso at 7.75/7.77 from 7.76/7.77.
