Kuala lumpur: The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar ahead of the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes this week. At 6 pm, the local note slid to 4.2200/2240 from last Friday's close of 4.2085/2155.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid highlighted that mixed signals from US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials, along with weakening economic data, make the likelihood of a rate cut in September increasingly challenging. "Thus far, the odds for a 25-basis point rate cut in September are about 84 percent based on the federal funds futures contract," he told Bernama.

The FOMC meeting minutes are expected to be released next Friday, August 22, according to Malaysian time. Dr. Mohd Afzanizam further noted that the US producer price index (PPI) for July, released last week, was significantly higher than anticipated. The headline PPI rose by 3.3 percent on an annual basis, marking the largest increase since February when core PPI increased by 3.7 percent. "So the impression is that inflation risk would limit the odds for a rate cut," he added.

At the close, the ringgit showed mixed performances against a basket of major currencies. It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8632/8661 from last Friday's close of 2.8653/8702. However, it declined against the British pound to 5.7139/7193 from 5.7050/7145 at the end of last week and eased against the euro to 4.9290/9336 from 4.9185/9267.

The ringgit also traded lower against other ASEAN currencies. It decreased against the Singapore dollar to 3.2902/2936 from 3.2820/2877 at last Friday's close and weakened against the Thai baht to 12.9942/13.0121 from 12.9760/13.0032. Additionally, the local currency declined against the Philippine peso to 7.40/7.42 from 7.37/7.39 previously and edged down against the Indonesian rupiah to 260.4/260.9 from 260.2/260.8.