Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said market sentiment is increasingly leaning towards a potential interest rate cut in December, with further reductions anticipated in 2026.

“The expectation of a narrower gap between the US Federal Reserve’s Funds Rate and Malaysia’s Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) is likely to support the ringgit’s appreciation.

“This is especially so as Bank Negara Malaysia is expected to maintain the OPR, possibly throughout 2026,” he told Bernama.

At the closing, the ringgit was mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

At 6pm, the ringgit strengthened to 4.1305/4.1345 versus the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.1360/4.1385.

It firmed against the yen to 2.6417/2.6444 from 2.6438/2.6456 at Wednesday’s close, and edged higher against the euro to 4.7823/4.7869 from 4.7862/4.7891 but weakened against the British pound to 5.4576/5.4629 from 5.4492/5.4525.

The local currency traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1817/3.1850 from 3.1847/3.1869 at yesterday’s close and strengthened against the Thai baht to 12.8097/12.8285 from 12.8308/12.8433.

It depreciated against the Indonesian rupiah to 248.3/248.6 from 248.2/248.4 and was almost flat vis-à-vis the Philippine peso at 7.02/7.04 from 7.02/7.03 previously.