“Market participants were awaiting the outcome of the trade negotiation between the two economic superpowers,” said the analyst.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid noted that China’s exports fell to 4.8% in May from 8.1% in the previous month, with exports to the US contracting 34.5% in May from a contraction of 21%.

“This suggests that the tariff shocks have taken a toll on bilateral trade between the US and China,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Afzanizam said Bank Negara Malaysia’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves continued to expand, climbing to US$119.6 billion at the end of May from US$119.1 billion in the middle of May.

“This suggests that the flow of funds on the ringgit has been constructive and may have supported the ringgit,” he added.

At 6pm, the local currency made a small retreat to 4.2290/4.2345 against the greenback compared to Friday’s close of 4.2270/4.2360.

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

It eased against the Japanese yen to 2.9344/2.9384 from Friday’s 2.9324/2.9390, depreciated versus the British pound to 5.7392/5.7466 from 5.7212/5.7334, and fell vis-à-vis the euro to 4.8316/4.8379 from 4.8268/4.8371.

The local currency traded mixed against most of its Asean peers.

It fell versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2908/3.2953 from 3.2862/3.2934 but gained against the Thai baht to 12.9414/12.9642 from 12.9599/12.9947 on Friday.

The domestic unit advanced vis-à-vis the Philippine peso to 7.57/7.59 from 7.58/7.60 but was almost flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 259.5/260 from 259.5/260.2 previously.