Kuala lumpur: The ringgit opened nearly unchanged against the US dollar on Friday as investors stayed on the sidelines amid mixed sentiment ahead of the tabling of Budget 2026 this afternoon. At 8 am, the local note stood at 4.2140/2255 against the greenback compared with yesterday's close of 4.2145/2185.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that the dollar-ringgit pair is expected to remain range-bound as the unveiling of Budget 2026 would provide more clarity on Malaysia's fiscal position going forward. The fiscal consolidation exercise has resulted in lower fiscal deficits to 4.2 percent of gross domestic product in the first half of 2025 compared with 5.5 percent in the same period last year, indicating that the government is on track to achieve its target of 3.8 percent this year.

Externally, Mohd Afzanizam stated that US economic uncertainty has continued to bolster the greenback, supported by unclear signals on the US Federal Reserve's interest rate direction and limited economic data due to the US government shutdown. At the opening, the ringgit was higher against a basket of major currencies, improving versus the euro to 4.8735/8868 from 4.8988/9044 at Thursday's close, strengthening vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.7539/7616 from 2.7625/7653, and firming against the British pound to 5.6055/6208 from 5.6501/6575.

The ringgit presented a mixed performance against ASEAN currencies. It advanced versus the Thai baht to 12.8507/8924 from 12.9323/9505 at yesterday's close and rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.2433/2524 from 3.2534/2568 previously. However, it remained almost flat against the Philippine peso to 7.23/7.26 from 7.23/7.24 and showed little change vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 254.3/255.1 from 254.3/254.7.