THE ringgit opened stronger on Wednesday as market participants shifted their attention to the upcoming US labour market data, widely regarded as crucial ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for 16–17 September.
At 8 am, the local unit stood at RM4.2255/2370 against the US dollar, firmer than Tuesday’s closing level of RM4.2270/2350.
Bernama reported Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid saying while the likelihood of a 25-basis-point rate cut remains elevated, market sentiment remains cautious amid mixed signals from recent economic releases and Federal Reserve commentary.
"Tonight, the Job Opening and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS) will be published, with consensus estimates pegged at 7.39 million job openings in July compared with 7.437 million in June," he told local news media.
He further observed that the ringgit had weakened by 0.13 per cent against the greenback on Tuesday to RM4.2310 and projected that the US dollar-ringgit (USDMYR) pair would likely trade within the RM4.23–RM4.25 range today.
The ringgit also made gains against several major currencies. It advanced to 2.8437/8519 versus the Japanese yen from 2.8451/8507 previously, appreciated to 5.6541/6695 against the British pound from 5.6638/6745, and strengthened to 4.9155/9289 against the euro from 4.9194/9287.
Regionally, the local note was broadly higher within ASEAN. It rose to 257.4/258.2 against the Indonesian rupiah from 257.5/258.1, firmed to 3.2776/2870 against the Singapore dollar from 3.2808/2873, and edged up to 7.34/7.37 against the Philippine peso from 7.35/7.37. - Sept 3, 2025
