At 9am, the local note was traded at 4.4050/4.4130 against the US dollar, compared with 4.4260/4.4320 at the close yesterday.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the decrease in the recent US inflation rate sent a clear message to investors that perhaps the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would not have to act as incisively over the next year and might adopt a more dovish tone throughout 2023.

The US inflation data came in lower than expected (7.1% real against 7.3% forecast).

“The consequence of a more flexible stance on the part of the Fed could be a fall in interest rates, which could cause a possible devaluation of the US dollar against its counterparts,” he said in a note.

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

The local note fell further against the British pound to 5.4419/5.4518 from 5.4307/5.4381 at yesterday’s close and eased versus the euro to 4.6843/4.6928 from 4.6646/4.6709 yesterday.

It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.2702/3.2767 from 3.2640/3.2689 and declined against the Japanese yen to 3.2550/3.2614 from 3.2142/3.2188 at yesterday’s close.