THE ringgit is likely to gain ground against the US dollar next week, with analysts pointing to weaker US employment growth and Malaysia’s steady economic performance as key factors shaping investor sentiment.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd Director and Investment and Economic Strategy Analyst Mohd Sedek Jantan told Bernama that the ringgit’s direction would be influenced by the latest US non-farm payroll (NFP) report, which showed job creation of just 50,000 in December 2025 — falling short of the consensus estimate of 60,000.
“The net revision for the previous two months also declined by 76,000 jobs, confirming that the momentum of the US labour market weakened significantly towards year-end,” he said.
Despite the US unemployment rate easing to 4.4 per cent, Mohd Sedek noted that this largely reflected a tightening labour supply rather than a substantial increase in hiring.
He said the data reinforced the view that the US economy is experiencing a slower cyclical pace rather than a sharp rebound in growth.
“The NFP figures differing from initial expectations also align with our view that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates at this month’s meeting and may allow easing measures to be implemented later as employment growth continues to moderate,” he explained.
Mohd Sedek added that the ringgit’s outlook is further supported by Malaysia’s stronger growth momentum, resilient trade position, and stable domestic demand.
“These factors provide a solid foundation for the ringgit,” he said.
The local currency traded mostly lower this week, opening at 4.05 against the US dollar on Monday, slipping to 4.06 on Friday morning, and closing the week at 4.07.
Against other major currencies, the ringgit posted mixed performance. It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5805/5848 from 2.5817/5848 last week and improved against the euro to 4.7383/7459 from 4.7488/7540, while weakening slightly against the British pound to 5.4579/4666 from 5.4509/4569 previously.
Within the ASEAN region, the ringgit rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 241.9/242.4 from 242.2/242.6 and gained against the Philippine peso to 6.87/6.88 from 6.88/6.89. However, it weakened against the Thai baht to 12.9474/9738 from 12.8996/9201 and edged lower versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1629/1682 from 3.1502/1540.
Analysts say the combination of a softer US dollar, stable domestic fundamentals, and Malaysia’s resilient growth trajectory is likely to maintain investor confidence in the ringgit in the near term. - January 10, 2026
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