KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit was slightly higher against the US dollar this morning as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of United States (US) labour data due later today, said an analyst.

At 8 am, the ringgit rose to 4.4920/4990 versus the greenback from yesterday's close of 4.4950/5010.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid told Bernama that market sentiment is expected to stay guarded, with traders closely monitoring high-frequency data such as Initial Jobless Claims to gauge the US Federal Reserve's next move.

"The US Dollar Index (DXY) was up by 0.2 per cent to 103.179 points on Wednesday while the two-year US treasury note yield fell one basis point to 3.96 per cent.

"The benchmark equities indices were down, signalling that markets are concerned about the future prospect of a recession in the US, which might push the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut rates even lower," he said.

Mohd Afzanizam said that, as such, the ringgit is expected to maintain its narrow range bias today.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies, falling against the Japanese yen to 3.0704/0756 from 3.0464/0509 and weakened vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9084/9161 from 4.9054/9119 previously.

However, it gained against the British pound to 5.6968/7056 from 5.7122/7199 at Wednesday's close.

At the same time, the ringgit traded mixed against Asean currencies.

It slid against the Singapore dollar to 3.3856/3911 from 3.3853/3901, was rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 280.0/280.7 from 280.2/280.8 and firmer against the Philippines' peso to 7.80/7.82 from 7.81/7.83 previously.

The ringgit was also lower against the Thai baht to 12.6091/6380 from 12.5999/6230 at Wednesday's close.