By 9.20am, the local note had risen to 4.4710/4.4750 against the greenback, up from yesterday’s closing rate of 4.4830/4.4885.

ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said uncertainty lingered amid negotiations for the purchase of Credit Suisse Group AG by Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS Group AG.

“The crisis of confidence in the banking system is being cautiously monitored by all market players around the world, while Switzerland makes a historic intervention to facilitate the transaction between UBS and Credit Suisse,” Diniz told Bernama.

“In Malaysia, the trade balance data came in higher than expected, signaling a possible appreciation of the ringgit against the greenback,” he added.

A decision on interest rates is expected in the US tomorrow and this will be very closely watched by all investors as it has the potential to be a major market-moving event.

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

The local note strengthened against the Japanese yen to 3.4101/3.4137 from 3.4177/3.4224 at yesterday’s close, but declined versus the British pound to 5.4868/5.4917 from 5.4657/5.4724 previously and slipped vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7916/4.7959 from 4.7843/4.7901.

However, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.

The local currency appreciated versus the Singapore dollar to 3.3406/3.3440 from 3.3408/3.3454 at the previous close, firmed up against the Thai baht to 13.1380/13.1560 from 13.1408/13.1631 yesterday, and rose vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 291.00/291.40 from 291.80/292.30, but it eased versus the Philippine peso to 8.23/8.24 from 8.20/8.21 previously.