THE ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar on Monday as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for 28–29 October, according to an analyst.
At 8am, the local currency appreciated to 4.2145/2350 against the greenback from Friday’s close of 4.2210/2255.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd’s chief economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, said September’s consumer price index (CPI) reading of 3 per cent came in below the 3.1 per cent consensus forecast, suggesting that the US Federal Reserve is likely to deliver its second interest rate cut.
“This suggests that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) is on track to deliver its second interest rate cut, and there may be more cuts in 2026 as the US central bank has shifted its focus to reviving the job market,” he told Bernama.
“It means that the interest rate differential between the Fed fund rate and the overnight policy rate (OPR) will be narrowing in the near future,” he added.
Mohd Afzanizam noted that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is in no rush to lower the OPR and expects the benchmark interest rate to remain unchanged for the rest of 2025.
“From a policy rate perspective, it should be ringgit-positive. Therefore, we shall see the dollar-ringgit pair linger around RM4.21 and RM4.22 today,” he said.
He added that US President Donald Trump’s attendance at the ASEAN Summit would also bode well for Malaysia in the longer term.
“US President Donald Trump’s presence at the ASEAN Summit is positive for Malaysia; it indicates that the US is all for global trade and open for active negotiations to arrive at a win-win solution. Hence, this is a plus for the ringgit as well, albeit over the mid to long term,” he said.
At the opening, the ringgit traded mostly higher against major currencies. It inched up against the Japanese yen to 2.7553/7689 from 2.7592/7623 at Friday’s close, rose against the British pound to 5.6150/6423 from 5.6232/6292, but eased slightly against the euro to 4.9023/9262 from 4.9010/9062.
The local note also gained against most ASEAN currencies. It strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.2472/2632 from 3.2484/2521, advanced against the Philippine peso to 7.18/7.22 from 7.20/7.21, and edged up against the Indonesian rupiah to 253.8/255.2 from 254.2/254.6 previously. However, it slipped against the Thai baht to 12.8939/9630 from 12.8768/8952 at Friday’s close. -October 27, 2025
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