Kuala Lumpur: The ringgit opened marginally higher against the US dollar on Monday amid cautious trading ahead of the United States government’s import tariff imposition on Canada and Mexico as well as China. At 8 am, the ringgit improved to 4.4595/4650 versus the greenback from 4.4600/4650 at Friday’s close.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as the 10 per cent tariff on China are scheduled to take effect on Tuesday. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that both the headline and core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation rates, which are the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) preferred inflation measure, decreased to 2.5 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively, in January 2025. This suggests that a restrictive monetary policy remains necessary to mitigate the risk of rising inflation.

Dr Mohd Afzanizam also mentioned that the Fed is expected to maintain the current rate until there is confidence that the inflation rate will align with the two per cent target. Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies. It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.9564/9605 from 2.9682/9717 at Friday’s close but weakened against the British pound to 5.6185/6255 from 5.6174/6237 at the end of last week and fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6423/6481 from 4.6362/6414 previously.

In contrast, the local currency was traded mostly higher against ASEAN currencies. It appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.3036/3081 from 3.3069/3108 on Friday, rose vis-a-vis the Thai baht to 13.0242/0498 from 13.0455/0670, and improved versus the Indonesian rupiah to 268.6/269.1 from 268.7/269.1.