KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened marginally lower on Monday versus the greenback, pressured by a firmer US Dollar Index (DXY) as markets repriced United States monetary policy following softer jobs data, an economist said.
At 8 am, the local currency slipped to 4.0750/0850 against the US dollar, from Friday’s close of 4.0700/0765.
IPPFA Sdn Bhd, director of investment strategy and country economist Mohd Sedek Jantan, said weaker US non-farm payrolls data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates unchanged this month.
US non-farm payrolls rose by 50,000 jobs in December 2025, down from 56,000 in November and below the market consensus of 60,000.
"For the ringgit, this translates into near-term pressure from a temporarily wider US rate advantage, even as Malaysia’s domestic and external fundamentals remain intact, implying the move reflects global rate dynamics rather than any local stress,” Mohd Sedek told Bernama.
At the opening, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.
It strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 2.5768/5833 from 2.5805/5848 at Friday’s close and edged up against the euro to 4.7376/7492 from 4.7383/7459 last week, but weakened against the British pound to 5.4581/4714 from 5.4579/4666.
The local note traded mostly lower against its ASEAN peers.
The ringgit slipped against the Indonesian rupiah to 242.2/242.9 from 241.9/242.4 at Friday’s close and eased versus the Singapore dollar to 3.1650/1731 from 3.1629/1682.
It also declined against the Thai baht to 12.9992/13.0382 from 12.9474/9738, while it was flat versus the Philippine peso at 6.87/6.90 compared with last week’s close of 6.87/6.88. - Bernama
