KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened lower against the US dollar on the first trading day for the month as the latter extended its strong performance and remained firm, said an analyst.

At 9.05 am, the local note slipped to 4.6990/7045 against the greenback from last Friday’s closing of 4.6930/6970.

“US dollar traded slightly stronger into the weekend and the market foresees the United States Federal Reserves’ hawkishness to continue driving the forex market,” said SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes to Bernama.

Conversely, the ringgit was traded better versus a basket of major currencies.

The local note rose against the Japanese yen at 3.1400/1439 from 3.1482/1511 last Friday, improved against the euro to 4.9654/9712 from 4.9802/9845 earlier and appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7300/7367 from 5.7522/7571 previously.

Meanwhile, it was also traded higher against other Asian currencies.

It was higher versus the Thai baht at 12.7927/8118 compared to last Friday’s 12.8808/8964 but edged down against the Indonesian rupiah to 303.8/304.4 from 303.5/303.9 previously.

It was flat against the Philippines’ peso at 8.29/8.30 since last Friday but rose vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar to 3.4370/4415 from 3.4457/4489 previously. – Bernama