At 9 am, the local currency stood at 4.0985/1015 against the greenback from Wednesday’s close of 4.1000/1050.On Thursday, benchmark Brent crude rose 1.61 per cent to US$68.41-- a six-week high as the US economy’s brighter outlook and oil demand offset bearish demand prospects from the COVID crisis in India.
Malaysia’s trade performance continued to be on an upward trajectory in March, registering the highest monthly value for trade, exports and imports, with total trade expanding by 25.6 per cent year-on-year to RM185.74 billion. OANDA's market analyst Kenny Fisher noted that when US Federal Reserve’s chair Jerome Powell remarked that it was too early to talk about the tapering interest rate, the US Treasury yield started to decline, consequently dragging the US dollar lower.