KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened almost flat against the US dollar on Monday, however, the short-term outlook for the local currency remained promising as the anticipation of a United States rate cut gained momentum, an economist said.
At 8 am, the ringgit stood at 4.6550/6610 against the greenback from last Friday's close of 4.6550/6605 .
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that the anticipation of the US rate cut was fuelled by market projection ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on July 30-31.
"We should see further support for the ringgit today," he said to Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam also highlighted that the market is monitoring the Bank of Japan's next move as it embarks on a quantitative tightening path.
"Their monetary policy decision will be on July 31. Japan is seen to be a latecomer in terms of monetary tightening," he said.
Meanwhile, the local note was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
The local currency appreciated against the euro at 5.0516/0581 from Friday's close of 5.0530/0590, and was marginally higher vis-a-vis the British pound at 5.9887/9964 from 5.9901/9971 last week, but edged down against the Japanese yen to 3.0200/0241 from 3.0176/0214 previously.
At the same time, the ringgit traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.
The domestic unit eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4659/4706 from Friday's 3.4641/4684 and weakened against the Thai baht to 12.9525/9764 from 12.9069/9268 previously.
The local currency was flat against the Indonesia rupiah at 285.5/286.0 from 285.5/286.0 last Friday and remained unchanged against the Philippines' peso at 7.97/7.99 previously.