Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said Fed chairman Jerome Powell will deliver his speech later tonight, which could shed more light on how the US central bank sees the risk to growth following the ongoing US government shutdown.

Against such a backdrop, he noted that the US dollar/ringgit maintained its narrow range trade of between RM4.21 and RM4.22 today.

“Regional currencies were also mixed, suggesting a lack of conviction among traders.

“As such, Budget 2026 should help steer the ringgit as the government is expected to maintain its stance to reduce the budget gap lower for next year,” he told Bernama.

At 6pm, the local currency eased to 4.2145/4.2185 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.2140/4.2195.

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

It fell versus the euro to 4.8988/4.9044 from 4.8941/4.9005 at yesterday’s close, weakened vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.7625/2.7653 from 2.7559/2.7596, but rose against the British pound to 5.6420/5.6473 from 5.6501/5.6575.

The ringgit was mostly mixed against Asean currencies.

It advanced against the Thai baht to 12.9323/12.9505 from 12.9506/12.9739 at yesterday’s close and rose against the Philippine peso to 7.23/7.24 from 7.27/7.28.

However, the ringgit slipped against the Singapore dollar to 3.2534/3.2568 from 3.2503/3.2548 previously, and was little changed vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 254.3/254.7 from 254.2/254.7.