Five minutes into the day’s trading, the ringgit rose to 4.4990/4.5020 against the US dollar from yesterday’s close of 4.5020/4.5040, rebounding from a 24-year low.

An analyst said there is optimism among investors on the outcome of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) monetary policy committee meeting today, when the central bank is expected to increase the overnight policy rate (OPR) by another 25 basis points (bps).

“In my opinion, BNM will increase the OPR by another 25bps to 2.5% to counter the rising inflation rate, which stood at 4.4% back in July,” he said.

The ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

The local unit depreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.2001/3.2029 from yesterday’s close of 3.1990/3.2009, weakened against the British pound at 5.1792/5.1827 from 5.1723/5.1746, and decreased against the euro to 4.4932/4.4961 from 4.4615/4.4635 previously.

However, the ringgit rose against the Japanese yen to 3.1204/3.1229 from 3.1238/3.1254 yesterday.