This makes it the seventh straight day that it has beaten the greenback.

Dealers said the ringgit continued to gain strength as expectations that there will be a smaller hike in the US interest rate gained momentum.

The federal open market committee of the Federal Reserve will meet from tomorrow to Thursday during which a decision will be made on the interest rate.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes told Bernama that the market is expecting a downshift in US interest rate hikes, from 50 basis points (bps) to 25 bps, which should support the ringgit later in the week.

MIDF Research noted that the US dollar continued to weaken against major currencies last week, with the US dollar index falling 0.1% week-on-week to 101.93, the lowest weekly closing in eight months.

It said the ringgit appreciated although the price of oil dropped, strengthening by 1.0% week-on-week. “Although crude oil price ended 1.1% lower at US$86.66 per barrel, the ringgit and regional currencies appreciated further last week, backed by positive growth fundamentals and risk-on demand,’’ the research house said in a note.

The ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies, except vis-a-vis the British pound, where it slipped to 5.2495/5.2557 from 5.2453/5.2533 at last Friday’s close.

The local note gained against the Singapore dollar at 3.2270/3.2311 from Friday’s close of 3.2280/3.2332, improved against the euro to 4.6046/4.6100 from 4.6159/4.6230 and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 3.2551/3.2594 from 3.2658/3.2711 previously.