KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened mostly higher against major currencies on Tuesday, supported by moderating domestic inflation and expectations of an eventual normalisation of the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR), despite a stronger US dollar.
At 8am, the local currency strengthened to 4.0780/0850 against the US dollar from Monday’s closing rate of 4.0805/0845.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported that Malaysia’s inflation eased to 1.8% in September 2026 from 1.9% in August.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid expects the ringgit to trade between RM4.07 and RM4.08 against the US dollar today.
He said investors were also monitoring geopolitical risks in West Asia following reports by the Iranian navy of a US military attack on the Konarak naval base.
“We are now entering the blackout period, during which US Federal Reserve officials will not make public statements ahead of next week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Afzanizam added that the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.15% to 101.989 points.
Against other major currencies, the ringgit strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.5724/5770 from 2.5790/5817 and the British pound to 5.4274/4367 from 5.4369/4422.
However, it weakened slightly against the euro to 4.5731/5809 from 4.5726/5771.
The ringgit also gained against most ASEAN currencies, strengthening against the Indonesian rupiah to 225.9/226.4 and the Philippine peso to 6.46/6.48.
It also rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1862/1919 from 3.1886/1920 and the Thai baht to 12.1373/1661 from 12.1451/1613.
-AWANI
