KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit maintained its strong footing, opening marginally higher against the US dollar in early trade today on the back of anticipation of more interest rate cuts in the United States (US) in the near term, an analyst said.

At 8 am, the local note was traded at 4.1200/1275 versus the greenback compared to yesterday's close of 4.1210/1260.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist, Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's latest remarks indicated that the central bank is committed to cutting the benchmark interest rates, but gradually moving towards a more neutral stance.

"This should be positive for the ringgit as the interest rate differential between the Fed Fund Rate and overnight policy rate would narrow further going forward, making Malaysia's investment return look more attractive.

"On that note, the ringgit should stay on firmer footing today," he told Bernama.

The ringgit traded firmer against a basket of major currencies.

It strengthened against the Japanese yen to 2.8655/8709 against 2.8899/8936 at Monday's close, appreciated vis-a-vis the euro to 4.5876/5960 from 4.6106/6162, and advanced against the British pound to 5.5109/5209 from 5.5193/5260 yesterday.

The local currency also improved against ASEAN currencies.

It ticked up against the Singapore dollar to 3.2057/2118 from 3.2175/2217 at Monday's close and rose to 12.7082/7420 from 12.8037/8248 against the Thai baht

The ringgit improved versus the Indonesian rupiah to 272.0/272.7 from 272.1/272.6 yesterday and remained unchanged against the Philippine peso at 7.34/7.37 from 7.35/7.37.