KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — The ringgit continued to appreciate against the US dollar on its first trading day this year, tracking the firmer Chinese yuan amidst signs of an impending US-China ‘Phase One’ trade deal, said an analyst.

AxiTrader chief Asia market strategist Stephen Innes said the People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) additional liquidity measures to boost the country’s economy had supported the ringgit, following Malaysia’s close trade relationship with China.

At 6pm, the ringgit was quoted at 4.0880/0930 versus the US dollar compared with Tuesday’s close of 4.0890/0920.

The market was closed yesterday for the New Year holiday.

"Since the ringgit is arguably undervalued relative to other foreign currency baskets, we should expect the currency to continue playing catch-up with its regional peers,” said Innes.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies.

It gained against the Singapore dollar to 3.0329/0375 from Tuesday’s close of 3.0383/0415 and rose against the Japanese yen to 3.7529/7582 from 3.7645/7683.

The local note however slipped against the British pound to 5.3971/4058 from 5.3795/3855 but increased against the euro to 4.5760/5824 from 4.5850/5888. — Bernama