Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said last Friday’s non-farm payrolls report indicated that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will likely maintain a restrictive monetary policy stance in its upcoming September meeting, which would increase demand for the US dollar.

Additionally, he said Bank Negara Malaysia is likely to keep the overnight policy rate (OPR) steady at 3% this week when the monetary policy committee (MPC) members meet this Thursday.

“The possibility of another 25 basis-points hike by the US Fed is deemed to be dollar-positive. This, in turn, would make the ringgit remain weak in the near-term,” he told Bernama.

At 6pm, the local currency fell to 4.6535/4.6575 against the greenback from 4.6445/4.6485 at Friday’s close.

At the close, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

It increased against the euro to 5.0230/5.0273 from 5.0388/5.0432 at Friday’s close, improved against the British pound to 5.8774/5.8824 from 5.8878/5.8929 and rose against the Japanese yen to 3.1786/3.1818 from 3.1939/3.1968.

At the same time, the ringgit also traded mixed against other Asean currencies.

It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.4361/3.4393 from 3.4386/3.4418 at Friday’s close and went up versus the Thai baht to 13.2089/13.2259 from 13.2677/13.2852.

However, the local currency was lower against the Indonesian rupiah at 305.2/305.7 from 304.6/305.1 and flat against the Philippine peso at 8.21/8.23 from 8.21/8.22.