Kuala lumpur: The ringgit opened stronger against the US dollar on Tuesday, continuing its upward trend as the greenback weakened due to increasing expectations of interest rate cuts in the United States. At 8 am, the local currency was valued at 4.2070/2275 compared to Monday's closing rate of 4.2165/2205.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's chief economist, Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid, noted that the US Dollar Index (DXY) has been on a decline as markets anticipated a potential Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut in the upcoming week. This anticipation follows the release of softer US jobs data, which has fueled rate cut expectations.

Dr. Mohd Afzanizam further explained that economists are closely monitoring the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, expected later today. There is a prevailing expectation of a downward revision in job growth, highlighting concerns about the strength of the US labor market and suggesting that the Fed may be lagging in reducing interest rates.

Domestically, Dr. Mohd Afzanizam projected that the ringgit is likely to maintain its appreciating bias, anticipating it to hover between 4.21 to 4.22 per dollar. However, the ringgit was slightly weaker against other major currencies in early trading. It eased to 2.8545/8686 against the yen, slipped to 5.7009/7287 against the pound, and decreased to 4.9508/9749 against the euro.

In contrast, the ringgit showed strength against ASEAN currencies. It rose to 257.9/259.3 against the rupiah, strengthened to 3.2795/2958 versus the Singapore dollar, and edged up to 7.42/7.46 against the peso. However, it slipped to 13.2734/3452 against the baht.