Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid noted that China’s central bank intervention has sent a clear message that the People’s Bank of China wants to see a stronger yuan.

“As such, the ringgit should remain stable given that it has a strong positive correlation with the yuan,” he added.

China’s central bank has set a higher daily fixing on yuan at 7.0996 per dollar versus 7.222 as forecast by analysts.

At 9am, the ringgit rose to 4.7140/4.7225 against the greenback from Monday’s close of 4.7205/4.7270.

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

It depreciated against the euro to 5.1104/5.1197 from Monday’s close of 5.1066/5.1137 and was also down against the British pound at 5.9590/5.9697 from 5.9549/5.9631. It was higher vis-a-vis the Japanese yen at 3.1159/3.1217 from 3.1185/3.1230 yesterday.

The ringgit traded mixed against other Asean currencies.

It was firmer versus the Singapore dollar at 3.5041/3.5106 from 3.5060/3.5111 but was lower against the Thai baht at 12.9751/13.0025 compared with 12.9627/12.9866 on Monday.

The local unit barely moved versus the Indonesian rupiah at 298.7/299.0 from 298.7/299.3 and the Philippine peso at 8.37/8.40 compared with 8.37/8.39 previously.