Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid said the US Federal Open Market Committee is likely to keep the federal funds rate unchanged during its meeting on June 13-14.

“But the more important question is whether it would resume the rate hike campaign again in July and beyond.

“On that note, expect the ringgit to be range-bound in the near term until there is more clarity on the US interest rate outlook,” he told Bernama.

At 6pm, the local note finished at 4.6115/6185 versus the greenback compared with yesterday’s close of 4.6175/6220.

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

It appreciated versus the British pound to 5.7953/8041 from Monday’s closing of 5.8157/8214 and advanced against the Japanese yen to 3.3043/3096 from 3.3162/3197, but fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.9823/9898 from 4.9804/9853 previously.

However, the local note traded mixed against other Asean currencies.

The ringgit increased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4399/4454 from 3.4408/4444 on Monday and was slightly higher versus the Indonesian rupiah at 310.2/310.8 compared with 310.6/311.0 yesterday.

The local unit, however, went down against the Thai baht to 13.3442/3699 from 13.3400/3599 previously and eased against the Philippine peso to 8.24/8.26 from 8.23/8.25.