KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit traded higher against the US Dollar in today's early session, extending positive momentum from last week, driven by continued buying interest towards the local currency, said an analyst.

At 8.11 am, the local currency climbed to 4.2960/3095 against the greenback compared to Friday's close of 4.3045/3075.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that since China is seen to be more receptive to prescribing further monetary stimulus to support growth, emerging market currencies, including the ringgit, look to stay positive during the day.

"Furthermore, market participants are still digesting the recently announced Budget 2025, where the fiscal consolidation is expected to continue with the fiscal deficit likely to be narrowed to 3.8 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 from an estimated 4.3 per cent this year.

"Given such commitment for fiscal consolidation, it should support the ringgit as the budget can be deemed credit-positive," he told Bernama today.

In the early trading session, the ringgit was mostly lower against a basket of major currencies.

It edged down against the euro to 4.6680/6827 from 4.6674/6706 at Friday's close and slipped vis-a-vis the Japanese yen to 2.8759/8851 from 2.8708/8730.

However, the local note strengthened against the British pound to 5.6046/6222 from 5.6109/6148 previously.

Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mixed versus ASEAN currencies.

The local note depreciated against the Thai baht to 12.9792/13.0363 from 12.9579/9916 on Friday.

The ringgit was almost unchanged against the Singapore dollar at 3.2791/2897 from 3.2791/2817 on Friday, but it went up versus the Philippine peso to 7.47/7.50 from 7.48/7.49 and rose against the Indonesian rupiah to 277.4/278.5 from 278.0/278.3 previously.

 - BERNAMA