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The ringgit lost as market sentiment was disappointed by expectations of a US interest rate cut by some increasingly unclear Fed officials.
At exactly 9am this morning, the ringgit fell to 4.7150 against the US dollar from where it closed at 4.7020 last Thursday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Afzanizam Rashid said the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose above estimates and weakened hopes for a drop in interest rates this year.
Both US PMI data rose above 50 points and this indicates that manufacturers in the US are generally optimistic about business prospects.
Also, the Initial Jobless Claims data was lower at 215,000 last week compared to market expectations of 220,000 and the number was more positive than before at 223,000.
He also said that they expect the ringgit to remain weak against the US dollar after it rose sharply since the beginning of May.
Meanwhile, the ringgit traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies except the euro which rose to 5.0969/5.1012 from 5.0993/5.1031.
The local unit also depreciated against the Japanese yen at 3.0022/3.0050 from Thursday's close of 3.0012/3.0036 and eased against the British pound to 5.9852/5.9903 from 5.9824/5.9868 previously.
Local notes traded mixed against Asean currencies.
It was almost unchanged against the Philippine peso to 8.09/8.11 from 8.09/8.10 yesterday, weakened against the Indonesian rupiah to 294.8/295.0 from 294.0/294.2 and eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.4861/3.4896 from 3.4843/3.4874 at Thursday's close.
The ringgit rose against the Thai baht to 12.8614/12.8773 from 12.8688/12.8833 previously.
