Kuala lumpur: The ringgit continued its upward momentum on Monday, opening higher for the 12th consecutive session ahead of a holiday-shortened trading week leading into the New Year. At 8 am, the local currency surged to 4.0425/0565 against the greenback from last Friday's closing of 4.0470/0535.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the market is expected to move in a narrow range today in view of the holiday-shortened week with the new year celebration on Thursday. "Therefore, we expect the US dollar-ringgit to range around RM4.04-RM4.05 today," he told Bernama.

At the opening, the ringgit was traded mostly higher against a basket of major currencies. It appreciated against the Japanese yen to 2.5855/5948 from 2.5866/5909 at last Friday's close, strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.7592/7757 from 4.7629/7706 previously, and was almost flat versus the British pound at 5.4570/4759 from 5.4570/4657 last week.

Similarly, the local currency was firmer against its ASEAN peers. It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1474/1588 from 3.1497/1550 on Friday, gained versus the Thai baht to 12.9913/13.0451 from 13.0212/0484, improved against the Indonesian rupiah to 241.3/242.4 from 241.6/242.2, and was up vis-a-vis the Philippines' peso to 6.88/6.91 from 6.89/6.90 previously.