KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit strengthened against the US dollar at the opening today, boosted by optimism over the upcoming Budget 2025, which will be announced this Friday.
The overall market sentiment, however, remains jittery due to concerns over the monetary stances of China and the United States.
At 8 am, the ringgit strengthened to 4.2925/3080 against the greenback, from yesterday's close of 4.2945/2995
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that from an economic point of view, the US economy is clearly at the forefront, with the Federal Reserve unlikely to prescribe aggressive monetary easing, while there is also concern over China's stimulus which has not met expectations from economists.
"Eyes are glued to the monetary moves by both China and the United States, and on that note, demand for the US dollar would remain strong. As such, dollar-ringgit would linger around the prevailing level," he told Bernama.
At the opening, the ringgit was mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It appreciated further vis-a-vis against the Japanese yen to 2.8666/8774 from 2.8743/8778 on Monday and gained against the euro to 4.6823/6992 from 4.6935/6989 yesterday. However, it fell against the British pound to 5.6086/6288 from yesterday's 5.6056/6121.
Similarly, the local note was mostly higher versus Asean currencies.
It advanced against the Thai baht to 12.8927/9482 from 12.9310/9538 yesterday, traded better against the Singapore dollar at 3.2815/2936 from 3.2868/2909 at Monday's close, and was marginally higher against the Indonesian rupiah at 275.7/276.8 when compared with yesterday's 275.8/276.3.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was almost unchanged vis-a-vis against the Philippines peso at 7.47/7.50 versus 7.47/7.49 yesterday.