At 8am, the ringgit was trading at 4.4860/4.4960 against the greenback, up from Monday’s close of 4.4870/4.4925.

UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors’ head of investment research, Sedek Jantan, noted that the DXY rose 0.45% overnight, surpassing 108 and approaching a two-year high.

“This came as markets continued to digest last week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which signalled a more measured pace of interest rate cuts in 2025,” he noted.

He added that the Asia Dollar Index opened higher, but the MSCI Emerging Market Currency Index slipped 0.1%, dragged down by declines in the Brazilian real and South African rand.

The ringgit strengthened against several major currencies. It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.8537/2.8602 from Monday’s close of 2.8636/2.8673, rose against the British pound to 5.6219/5.6344 from 5.6384/5.6453, and edged higher against the euro to 4.6668/4.6772 from 4.6692/4.6749.

The local note showed mixed performance against Asean currencies. It gained against the Singapore dollar, trading at 3.3051/3.3127 compared with 3.3095/3.3138 previously, and strengthened against the Thai baht to 13.0772/13.1186 from 13.1137/13.1360.

However, it remained flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 276.9/277.7 from 276.9/277.5 and against the Philippine peso at 7.67/7.69 from 7.67/7.68.