Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said there may be profit-taking in emerging market currencies, including the ringgit, after the US Dollar Index gained 0.25% to 96.873 points.

He noted that the ringgit appreciated 0.35% to close at RM4.1880 against the US dollar yesterday.

“The US dollar-ringgit is likely to hover between RM4.19 and RM4.20 as the Fed has signalled that its rate cuts will be gradual,” he told Bernama.

The Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate at the September meeting yesterday, its first cut since December 2024, and indicated that further reductions are likely before year-end.

At the opening, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies except for the Japanese yen.

At 8am, the local note eased to 4.1943/4.1988 from yesterday’s close of 4.1860/4.1900.

It strengthened against the yen at 2.8522/2.8585 from 2.8607/2.8636 at yesterday’s close, but weakened to 5.7156/5.7217 against the British pound from 5.7131/5.7185 and was slightly lower vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9589/4.9642 from 4.9583/4.9631 previously.

Against Asean currencies, the local note was mostly lower except for the Thai baht.

It strengthened against the Thai baht at 13.1826/13.2050 from 13.1892/13.2081 yesterday.

It fell to 3.2822/3.2860 against the Singapore dollar from 3.2793/3.2827, depreciated to 255.1/255.5 versus the Indonesian rupiah from 254.6/255.0 and slipped against the Philippine peso at 7.37/7.38 compared with Friday’s 7.36/7.37.