Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the ringgit depreciated to as low as RM4.2633 during the morning session as the US federal open market committee (FOMC) members were reluctant to cut rates excessively in light of concerns over higher inflation risk in the second half of 2025.

“This was reflected in their latest quarterly forecast of personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) inflation, which is expected to reach 3% for 2025 versus the actual figure of 2.1% in April 2025,” he told Bernama.

He added that sentiments will remain guarded as the market participants are wary of the potential escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict.

At 6pm, the local currency slid to 4.2590/4.2625 versus the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.2500/4.2550.

Conversely, the ringgit traded higher against a basket of major currencies at the close.

It rose against the British pound to 5.7164/5.7211 from 5.7218/5.7285 at the close yesterday, gained vis-à-vis the euro to 4.8868/4.8908 from 4.8888/4.8945 yesterday and appreciated versus the Japanese yen to 2.9286/2.9312 from 2.9322/2.9359 previously.

The ringgit was also higher against its Asean peers.

It advanced versus the Indonesian rupiah to 259.5/259.9 from 260.5/260.9 yesterday, strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.3072/3.3102 from 3.3074/3.3115 yesterday, and was up vis-à-vis the Thai baht to 12.9966/13.0513 from 13.0240/13.0449 previously.

The local unit also rose against the Philippine peso to 7.41/7.42 from 7.46/7.48 at yesterday’s close.