Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said it remains to be seen how soon the US government shutdown will end, with the non-farm payrolls data for September likely to be delayed.

“This will result in lower visibility about the latest trend in the labour markets, which, to some degree, could complicate the US Federal Reserve’s assessment,” he told Bernama.

At 6pm, the local note inched down to 4.2055/4.2125 against the greenback compared with yesterday’s close of 4.2040/4.2090.

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

It increased versus the euro to 4.9360/4.9442 from 4.9410/4.9468 at yesterday’s close, gained vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.6577/5.6671 from 5.6741/5.6809, and appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.8537/2.8586 from 2.8669/2.8705 previously.

The local note traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It was up versus the Thai baht at 12.9807/13.0084 from 12.9829/13.0040 at yesterday’s close and inched up vis-à-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.2621/3.2678 from 3.2665/3.2707 yesterday.

However, it slid against the Indonesian rupiah to 253.9/254.4 from 253.2/253.6 yesterday and fell versus the Philippine peso at 7.26/7.28 compared with 7.23/7.25 previously.