The ringgit rose higher against the US dollar in early trade, recovering slightly following a technical correction after suffering losses since the opening of the week.
At 9.55am, the ringgit was at 4.4900, having rebounded against the US dollar since it closed at 4.4885 at the end of Tuesday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Afzanizam Rashid said the shock of the newly announced US tariffs continued to dominate market sentiment.
He noted that US government officials had confirmed that the 104% tariff on selected Chinese goods would continue as planned and Beijing is expected to retaliate.
The level of uncertainty over the potential trade war has affected more stimulus measures to support the country's economy.
For now, the ringgit remains under pressure given its strong correlation against the Chinese yuan at 78% since 2015.
The ringgit was weaker against most major currencies this morning.
It fell against the Japanese yen to 3.0785/3.0907 from 3.0501/3.0533, fell against the euro to 4.9246/4.9438 from 4.9005/4.9055, and fell against the British pound to 5.7368/5.7592 from 5.7210/5.7268.
However, local currencies were mostly stronger against Asean currencies.
It strengthened against the Thai baht to 12.8552/12.9139 from 12.8898/12.9094, rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 265.6/266.8 from 265.7/266.1, and rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.3169/3.3304 from 3.3224/3.3259.
The ringgit was little changed against the Philippine peso at 7.83/7.86 from 7.83/7.84 previously.
