Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the Fed’s meeting minutes will be released later tonight and it should provide further clarity on the US interest rate outlook going forward.

The report is also expected to offer some hints about how policymakers are weighing the risk of a global trade war.

Late yesterday, US president Donald Trump said he would likely impose tariffs of around 25% on automobile, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports with an announcement coming as soon as April, further hurting sentiment in the global currency market.

“Policy uncertainties, which stem from the Trump administration, and geopolitical dynamics, especially concerning the Ukraine-Russia war, have led market sentiments in the currency market to remain cautious.

“Indications from Fed officials also suggest that the US central bank is not keen to ease its monetary policy in the near-term,” Afzanizam told Bernama.

At 6pm, the ringgit stood at 4.4410/4.4450 versus 4.4440/4.4480 from yesterday’s close.

The ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It appreciated versus the euro to 4.6306/4.6348 from 4.6511/4.6553 at yesterday’s close and advanced vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5965/5.6016 from 5.6030/5.6080.

The currency decreased marginally against the Japanese yen to 2.9277/2.9305 from 2.9272/2.9302 yesterday.

The local currency also traded mostly higher against Asean currencies.

It increased against the Singapore dollar to 3.3068/3.3102 from 3.3115/3.3150 at market close yesterday, improved versus the Thai baht to 13.1769/13.1946 from 13.1881/13.2067, and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 272.0/272.4 from yesterday’s 272.9/273.3.

However, it dipped against the Philippine peso to 7.64/7.65 from 7.63/7.64 at yesterday’s close.