THE ringgit opened higher against the US dollar on Monday, underpinned by Malaysia’s stronger-than-expected advance gross domestic product growth of 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025, reinforcing signs of resilience in the domestic economy.
At 8am, the local currency rose to 4.0540/0640 against the greenback, compared with Friday’s closing level of 4.0555/0605.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said broader global currency movements continued to influence sentiment, noting that the US Dollar Index had been on an upward trend, strengthening against other major currencies.
He also pointed to political uncertainty in Japan, where speculation over a possible snap election has weakened the yen.
However, he said Malaysia’s stronger-than-expected advance GDP estimates for the fourth quarter of 2025 indicated that the economy remained on solid footing.
“And Bank Negara Malaysia's Monetary Policy Committee meeting is expected to keep the overnight policy rate steady when they meet on Thursday.
“As such, the ringgit versus the US dollar is expected to be in a range of around RM4.05 and RM4.06 today,” he told Bernama.
Against other major currencies, the ringgit traded mostly lower at the opening, with the exception of the British pound. The local note strengthened against sterling to 5.4328/4462 from 5.4332/4399 previously.
It weakened against the Japanese yen to 2.5728/5793 from 2.5637/5670 at Friday’s close and edged down versus the euro to 4.7120/7236 from 4.7076/7134 last week.
The ringgit also traded mostly lower against its Asean counterparts. It gained slightly against the Indonesian rupiah to 240.0/240.7 from 240.1/240.5 previously and was little changed against the Philippine peso at 6.83/6.85 compared with last week’s close of 6.83/6.84.
However, it declined against the Thai baht to 12.9525/9932 from 12.9115/9332 and eased versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1502/1585 from 3.1479/1521. - January 19, 2026
