KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit was traded higher against the US dollar in the morning and was mixed against a basket of major currencies.
At 8 am, the ringgit rose to 4.6670/6735 against the greenback from Wednesday's close of 4.6705/6735.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the US dollar/ringgit is likely to gain a firmer footing as Malaysia's monetary policy is expected to remain at status quo for the rest of the year.
He noted that the latest 25 basis point rate cut by the Bank of Canada on Wednesday suggested that the chorus of monetary easing was building its momentum in the advanced countries as central banks' focus has shifted towards preserving growth.
The US Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 49.5 points in July while the 2-year US Treasury note yielded six basis points lower to 4.43 per cent, signalling that the US Federal Reserve would soon need to ease its restrictive monetary policy to support growth," Mohd Afzanizam told Bernama.
Bank Muamalat opined that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) would continue to remain vigilant on inflation as price setting behaviour among firms and inflation expectation could result in upward bias to inflation, he added.
"This warrants for BNM to maintain its present monetary policy stance which will be supportive to ringgit," said Mohd Afzanizam.
Meanwhile, the local note was mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency was lower versus the Japanese yen at 3.0327/0371 from 3.0173/0196 at Wednesday's close but rose against the British pound to 6.0181/0265 from 6.0291/0330 and improved vis-a-vis the euro to 5.0576/0647 from 5.0633/0665 yesterday.
The ringgit is also mixed against Asean currencies and flattish against the Indonesian rupiah and the Philippine peso.
The domestic unit rose slightly against the Singapore dollar to 3.4722/4776 from Wednesday's 3.4727/4752 but fell against the Thai baht at 12.9144/9392 against 12.9133/9266 yesterday.
Against the rupiah, the local currency stood at 287.7/288.3 from 287.9/288.3 and against the peso, at 7.98/8.00 from Wednesday's 7.99/8.00.