At 8am, the ringgit advanced to 4.4405/4.4480 against the greenback from Monday’s close of 4.4450/4.4490.

Malaysian markets were closed for a public holiday yesterday.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said markets appear to expect a more dovish US Federal Reserve when it decides on interest rates later today. “The Fed might lean toward more rate cuts, with markets anticipating three this year,” he said.

The two-day FOMC meeting has been going on since yesterday.

Afzanizam also noted that US Treasury bond yields were mixed with the 10-year yield falling two basis points to 4.18% while the 2-year note remained steady at 4.04%. The mixed US Treasury bond yields indicate that the market remains cautious ahead of the FOMC decision.

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

It slid against the euro to 4.8566/4.8648 from 4.8455/4.8499 at Monday’s close and depreciated against the British pound to 5.7576/5.7628 from 5.7404/5.7463, however, it gained against the Japanese yen to 2.9720/2.9772 from 2.9896/2.9925.

The local note was mostly higher against Asean currencies.

It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.3360/3.3421 from 3.3351/3.3383 at the previous close but strengthened against the Thai baht to 13.1961/13.2263 from 13.2213/13.2391.

The ringgit also edged up against the Indonesian rupiah to 270.2/270.8 from 270.9/271.2 and was slightly higher versus the Philippine peso at 7.75/7.77 from 7.76/7.77.