At 8.02am, the local note stood at 4.1980/4.2190 against the US dollar, up from Tuesday’s close of 4.2050/4.2090.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said persistent worries over a US shutdown were likely to support the ringgit, while expectations of lower US interest rates could further weaken the dollar.

“The local note may attempt to break the psychological level of 4.20 after closing 0.25% higher yesterday,” he noted.

The ringgit also opened higher against a basket of major and regional currencies.

It firmed to 2.8348/2.8491 against the Japanese yen from 2.8420/2.8447 at Tuesday’s close, rose to 5.6417/5.6699 versus the British pound from 5.6532/5.6586, and improved to 4.9251/4.9497 against the euro from 4.9405/4.9452.

The local note advanced to 3.2530/3.2695 against the Singapore dollar from 3.2604/3.2638, edged up against the Indonesian rupiah at 251.9/253.2 from 252.3/252.6, appreciated versus the Philippine peso at 7.21/7.25 from 7.22/7.24, and improved to 12.9265/12.9963 against the Thai baht from 12.9744/12.9927.