The shutdown will see a delay in the release of economic data, including the US nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report due this Friday.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the NFP report on Friday could be delayed, and will have an impact on traders as they may not have the latest data points to form their opinion.

“The US government shutdown has caused uncertainties to heighten, and that is negative for the US dollar,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes noted that the ringgit remained range-bound, as investors explored other haven assets like the Japanese yen, gold, and US Treasuries.

“The market uncertainty is amplified by the absence of US labour (data) releases during the shutdown.

“The lack of visibility on US jobs is keeping activity light, even as markets still lean on the prospect of US interest rate cuts later this year for medium-term support,” he added.

At 6pm, the local currency climbed to 4.2045/4.2095 against the greenback compared with yesterday’s close of 4.2050/4.2090.

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

It appreciated to 4.9327/4.9386 versus the euro from 4.9405/4.9452 at yesterday’s close, but slipped to 5.6605/5.6672 against the British pound from 5.6532/5.6586, and weakened to 2.8561/2.8597 against the Japanese yen from 2.8420/2.8447.

The local currency was also traded lower against Asean currencies.

It dropped to 3.2623/3.2665 vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar from 3.2604/3.2638 at yesterday’s close, depreciated to 12.9929/13.0128 against the Thai baht from 12.9744/12.9927, and inched down against the Indonesian rupiah to 252.7/253.1 from 252.3/252.6 previously.

The ringgit eased versus the Philippine peso to 7.23/7.24 from 7.22/7.24.