KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit opened slightly higher against the US dollar this morning, on emerging mild support for the local note, a dealer said.

At 9 am, the local unit was traded at 4.2400/2430 versus the greenback from 4.2410/2430 at 6 pm on Friday.

A dealer said investors would, this week, trade cautiously as they focus on the two-day policy meeting by the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

"This will likely lift Asian currencies as more interest is expected to shift towards this region and the Malaysian ringgit could benefit from it," the dealer said.

President Donald Trump is believed to have nominated US Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell to be the next chair of the central bank, replacing Janet Yellen. He is expected to announce his nominee this week.

Meanwhile, another dealer said some positive momentum was expected for the ringgit, aided by the 2018 Budget, and higher crude oil prices, which was currently trading above US$60 per barrel.

The budget, tabled by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, saw an increase in allocation of RM19.45 billio compared with RM260.8 billion set aside for the 2017 Budget.

Against a basket of major currencies, the ringgit was traded lower, except with the euro which rose to 4.9201/9253 from 4.9340/9367 last Friday.

Vis-a-vis the Singapore dollar, the local note fell to 3.1042/1075 from 3.0990/0016 and versus the yen, it declined to 3.7294/7327 from 3.7189/7216.

The ringgit depreciated to 5.5701/5762 from 5.5532/5579 when compared with the British pound, previously. -- Bernama