KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit ended the week positively, extending gains against the American dollar for the third straight session on Friday ahead of the closely watched US payrolls data later tonight.

At 6 pm, the local currency advanced to 4.4170/4220 against the US dollar, compared to Thursday's close of 4.4250/4305.

The US payrolls report for November is due later today. 

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the ringgit has continued its positive performance amid a declining US dollar on the expectation of a US interest rate cut in the middle of this month.

"The US Dollar Index (DXY) was hovering at around 105 points after remaining at 106 points for the past few days. Data points from the United States this week have been supportive of a 25 basis points rate cut in the upcoming US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Dec 17-18. This has translated into further support for the ringgit," he told Bernama.

However, the ringgit traded mostly lower against other major currencies.

It weakened versus the British pound to 5.6352/6416 from 5.6286/6356, depreciated against the euro to 4.6719/6771 from 4.6586/6644 but climbed against the Japanese yen to 2.9329/9364 from 2.9439/9478 at Thursday's close.

The local unit traded mixed against ASEAN currencies.

It improved against the Singapore dollar to 3.2963/3002 versus 3.2985/3029 on Thursday, gained against the Indonesian rupiah to 278.7/279.2 from 278.9/279.4 but went down versus the Thai baht to 12.9576/9784 from 12.9462/9710 previously.

The ringgit was marginally lower against the Philippine peso at 7.65/7.66 from 7.64/7.66.