Ringgit opens almost flat vs US dollar

At 9 am, the local note rose to 4.5050/5100 against the US dollar from yesterday's close of 4.5060/5130.

SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said investors will be tuning in to the United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell's speech later today, as it will provide an indication of the Fed's thoughts on the recent Financial Condition Index easing.

"The risk is not in rate hike quantum, as the Federal Open Market Committee has already confirmed a slower pace of hikes, but it is where the market moves from inflation to growth frustration," he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the recent US dollar's bullish push came after the release of the US Conference Board (CB) Consumer Confidence data, which came in higher than expected.

"The US dollar's appreciation due to higher consumer spending tends to cause inflationary pressure, which may push the Fed to raise interest rates to contain a price rise," he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit was also traded higher against a basket of major currencies.

The local note climbed versus the Singapore dollar to 3.2780/2821 from 3.2804/2860 at yesterday's close and advanced against the Japanese yen to 3.2497/2537 from 3.2614/2677 previously.

It had also appreciated versus the British pound to 5.3943/4003 from 5.4004/4088 on Tuesday and strengthened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6591/6642 from 4.6705/6777 yesterday.