KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar for the second day in a row, amid a weakening of the greenback ahead of the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later today.

At 6pm, the ringgit was quoted at 4.1785/1815 versus the greenback from 4.1810/1850 at close on Tuesday.

AxiCorp Asia Pacific market strategist Stephen Innes said it has been very quiet with the markets trading in narrow ranges as most local traders stayed on the sidelines ahead of the FOMC forward guidance statement later today.

"But it is very challenging to see this range trade mentality changing ahead of the APEC conference in Chile (in November) unless US Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman Jerome Powell surprises the market with a change in the Fed’s data-dependent stance,” he told Bernama.

The FOMC is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, its third cut since July.

Meanwhile, the local note traded mostly lower against other major currencies.

The ringgit strengthened against the yen to 3.8381/8419 from 3.8397/8444 on Tuesday but declined against the Singapore dollar to 3.0672/0699 from 3.0659/0693 yesterday.

It fell against the British pound to 5.3840/3895 from 5.3596/3664 and eased against the euro to 4.6431/6473 from 4.6305/6366. — Bernama