Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Afzanizam Rashid reckons that the conflict in West Asia would likely continue for the time being, leading to concerns about a disruption in oil supplies.

“The US Dollar Index (DXY) has reached 100.197 points as the Brent crude price climbed to US$101.15 (RM398.38) per barrel.

“Thus, the local currency was weaker against the US dollar by 0.28% to RM3.9370,” he told Bernama.

At the time of writing, Brent crude was 0.34% higher at US$100.80 (RM397.00) per barrel.

At 6pm, the local currency eased to 3.9365/3.9410 against the greenback from yesterday’s close of 3.9240/3.9280.

The ringgit improved against the Japanese yen to 2.4683/2.4715 from 2.4720/2.4746 at yesterday’s close, gained against the British pound to 5.2214/5.2273 from 5.2554/5.2608 and rose against the euro to 4.5093/4.5144 from 4.5361/4.5408.

The local currency also traded higher against most Asean currencies.

It was slightly higher against the Singapore dollar at 3.0730/3.0767 from 3.0786/3.0820 at yesterday’s close, increased against the Thai baht to 12.1862/12.2062 from 12.3257/12.3452 and edged up against the Indonesian rupiah to 232.1/232.5 from 232.2/232.6.

It climbed against the Philippine peso to 6.59/6.60 from 6.60/6.62 previously.