One of the dealers said the softer-than-expected September US private payrolls data released yesterday, coupled with the continued downtrend in oil prices, dragged the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield down from a fresh 16-year high in midweek.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury last traded at 4.735% after rising as high as 4.884% yesterday, hitting a 16-year high.

He said investors were now awaiting Friday’s nonfarm payroll report.

At 6pm, the local currency climbed to 4.7255/4.7300 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 4.7285/4.7320.

The ringgit was traded mostly lower versus a basket of major currencies.

It went down against the yen to 3.1719/3.1751 from 3.1703/3.1729 at yesterday’s close, declined against the euro to 4.9651/4.9698 from 4.9645/4.9681 but appreciated vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.7283/5.7337 from 5.7343/5.7385.

The local currency was traded mixed against other Asean currencies.

It decreased versus the Thai baht to 12.7927/12.8115 from 12.7549/12.7685 yesterday but was almost flat against the Indonesian rupiah at 302.4/303.0 from 302.4/302.8 previously.

It was higher against the Philippine peso at 8.33/8.35 compared with yesterday’s close of 8.34/8.35 and strengthened against the Singapore dollar to 3.4442/3.4478 from 3.4462/3.4492 previously.