KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar today as the United States' inflation data appear to be supportive of the local note, said an analyst. 

At 9 am, the ringgit strengthened to 4.6860/6930 versus the greenback from Friday's close of 4.7050/7080.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ISM Index for the manufacturing sector fell below the 50-point demarcation line for the second consecutive month to 48.7 points in May (April: 49.2). 

"The decline led to lower US Treasury yields with the two-year and 10-year note yields at 4.81 per cent and 4.39 per cent respectively. 

"With the odds for a rate cut climbing and the markets heading towards the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 11-12, perhaps there could be better support for the ringgit today," he told Bernama.  

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded easier against a basket of major currencies.

The local unit fell against the euro to 5.1134/1210 from 5.1035/1068 on Friday's close, it slid versus the British pound to 6.0037/0127 from 5.9876/9914, depreciated versus the Japanese yen to 2.9962/3.0008 from 2.9901/9922 previously. 

The ringgit was mixed against its ASEAN peers.

It decreased against the Thai baht to 12.8071/8322 from 12.7860/7994 at Friday's close and dropped against the Singapore dollar to 3.4817/4871 from 3.4803/4828.

The local unit appreciated vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 288.6/289.2 from 289.4/289.7 previously and rose versus the Philippine peso to 7.98/8.01 from 8.03/8.05.