KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — The ringgit opened almost flat today and is expected to retain its bullish trend as the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate cut last week signalled a soft landing for the US economic growth.

At 8 am, the local note was traded at 4.2005/2180 versus the greenback from last Friday’s 4.2005/2070.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the Fed aims to ensure maximum employment, indicating a preference for expansion.

"On that note, traders and investors are sanguine on the economic outlook. In a way, there seems to be a risk-on mode which would augur well for the ringgit,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd noted that the local note closed at its strongest level in 2.5 years last week.

In its weekly fund flow report, it said the Malaysian ringgit strengthened by 2.3 per cent week-on-week (w-o-w) against the weaker dollar, closing at RM4.204, the strongest level last seen in March 2022.

"Being the currency that gained the most from the Fed’s policy easing, the increased demand also supported ringgit to appreciate against currencies of Malaysia’s major trading partners.

"As a result, our MIDF Trade-Weighted Ringgit Index strengthened 2.1 per cent w-o-w to 93.12, appreciating the most against the Japanese yen, Korean won and Taiwan dollar,” it added.

The local note had performed favourably following the 50 basis points interest rate cut by the Fed on Sept 18.

At the same time, the higher commodity prices were also supportive of the ringgit, with the Brent crude benchmark rising further by 4.0 per cent w-o-w to US$74.49 per barrel.

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

The local note strengthened further vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.9160/9284 from 2.9182/9229 at the close last Friday and was almost flat versus the euro at 4.6873/7069 from 4.6878/6950 last week, but fell further against the British pound to 5.5921/6154 from 5.5841/5928 at Friday’s closing.

The local note performed similarly against ASEAN currencies, slipping against the Singapore dollar to 3.2539/2677 from 3.2507/2559 at Friday’s close, and eased against the Thai baht to 12.7508/8137 from 12.7026/7288 previously.

The ringgit was almost flat against the Philippines’ peso and Indonesian rupiah, trading at 7.55/7.58 against the peso from 7.55/7.56 on Friday and at 277.2/278.5 versus the rupiah from 277.2/277.8 previously. — Bernama