KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on Monday as the greenback strengthened amid renewed volatility from a challenging global economy outlook for the second half of 2025.
At 8.03 am, the local note stood at 4.2375/2560 against the greenback, easing from Friday’s close of 4.2270/2360.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit is expected to range between 4.23 and 4.24 today, following the stronger-than-expected United States (US) nonfarm payroll (NFP) data for May.
He highlighted that the US NFP rose 139,000 in May, higher than the consensus estimate of 126,000, while the unemployment rate was sustained at 4.2 per cent for three consecutive months, pushing the US dollar index (DXY) higher on Friday to 99.190 points.
"The latest NFP print seems to suggest that the labour market in the US is still fairly resilient despite having to contend with higher tariffs,” he told Bernama.
Nonetheless, Mohd Afzanizam said, April’s NFP was revised lower to 147,000 from 177,000, and the US labour force participation rate declined to 62.4 per cent in May from 62.6 per cent in April.
"On that note, while the labour market is still chugging along, signs of further moderation in the data series have been gradually emerging.
"As business and consumer sentiments remain weak, the outlook for the second half of 2025 economy looks increasingly challenging. Hence, the case for a lower US Federal Fund Rate is gaining momentum in our view,” he added.
He noted that the ringgit has gained against the greenback, with USDMYR closing at 4.2315, giving a week-on-week appreciation of 0.6 per cent last week.
At the early session, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.
It slightly increased against the Japanese yen to 2.9305/9435 from Friday’s 2.9324/9390, but depreciated versus the British pound to 5.7367/7618 from 5.7212/7334 and eased vis-a-vis the euro to 4.8341/8552 from 4.8268/8371.
The local currency also traded mostly lower against most of its ASEAN peers.
It rose versus the Thai baht to 12.9468/13.0121 from 12.9599/9947 at Friday’s close, while the ringgit decreased against the Singapore dollar to 3.2892/3041 from 3.2862/2934, dropped against the Philippine peso to 7.60/7.64 from 7.58/7.60 and fell against the Indonesian rupiah to 260.1/261.4 from 259.5/260.2. - Bernama
