The local currency started the day at 4.7250/4.7265 to the greenback, down from yesterday’s close of 4.7180/4.7220.

Dealers said the lack of market-moving catalysts, along with the stronger greenback due to higher US Treasury yields as well as falling crude oil prices, dragged down the local note’s performance in early trade.

At the time of writing, the price of Brent crude oil fell 0.17% to US$92.25 per barrel.

However, CGS-CIMB said in a note that the weak ringgit may support Malaysia’s exports, as both tend to have a positive correlation.

The brokerage said the performance of Malaysia’s electrical and electronics (E&E) sector had defied downward global trends as shipments continued to outperform global sales in September 2022.

According to the department of statistics, the country’s exports of E&E products to China grew 36.5% year-on-year in September 2022, in contrast with the moderation in shipments of regional peers.

“We suspect that part of the strength could be due to the attractive costs given the ringgit’s weaker performance,” it added.

Malaysia recorded a trade surplus of RM31.71 billion in September 2022, a new record high for the country, beating the previous high of RM31.5 billion in December last year.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was higher against a basket of major currencies.

It rose versus the British pound to 5.2948/5.2965 from 5.3233/5.3278 yesterday and increased against the Singapore dollar to 3.3146/3.3161 from 3.3176/3.3207 previously.

The local currency also improved against the euro to 4.6135/4.6150 from 4.6326/4.6365 yesterday and gained vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 3.1515/3.1527 from 3.1611/3.1642 at the close yesterday.