Kuala lumpur: The ringgit closed lower against the US dollar on Monday as investors turned back to the greenback after its recent pullback, triggered by a weaker-than-expected US June employment report. Investors exhibited caution ahead of the release of the US Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes scheduled for this week, as noted by Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's chief economist, Dr. Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the local currency eased to 4.0825/0875 against the greenback from 4.0690/0735 at the previous Friday's close. Dr. Mohd Afzanizam pointed out that other Asian currencies, much like the ringgit, were also generally weaker against the US dollar. He further noted that the market would be closely monitoring the upcoming data, particularly the ISM index for the US services sector, which was expected to be published later that evening. The consensus estimate pegged the index at 54.2 points for June, a slight dip from 54.5 in May.

In the broader currency market, the ringgit displayed a mostly softer performance against a basket of major currencies. It weakened against the euro, falling to 4.6594/6651 from 4.6497/6612 at the previous close, and depreciated against the British pound to 5.4440/4507 from 5.4296/4430 at the end of last week. However, the ringgit saw some strength against the Japanese yen, rising to 2.5148/5180 from 2.5214/5277 previously.

Regionally, the ringgit traded lower against several currencies. It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.1554/1595 from 3.1483/1563 at Friday's close and weakened against the Thai baht to 12.2403/2600 from 12.2384/2744 previously. The local currency also slid against the Indonesian rupiah to 226.8/227.2 from 226.2/226.8 last Friday and declined versus the Philippine peso to 6.64/6.65 from 6.61/6.63.