KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — The Malaysian ringgit closed higher against the US dollar today as traders shifted their interests to Asian currencies, including the ringgit, prompted by geopolitical tensions.

At 6pm, the local unit stood at 4.4030/4060 against the greenback compared with Friday’s 4.4050/4100.

A dealer said the greenback continued to remain under pressure, on the possibility of US military strikes against North Korea.   

"The downside bias of the US dollar and government bond yields following President Donald Trump’s comment in the Wall Street Journal that the greenback was ‘getting too strong’ dampened sentiment for the greenback,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ringgit, was traded mostly lower against a basket of other major currencies.

It eased against the Singapore dollar to 3.1542/1575 from 3.1521/1572 on Friday and declined against the British pound to 5.5244/5300 from 5.5107/5187, previously.

The ringgit fell against the yen to 4.0648/0687 from 4.0450/0503 on Friday but rose against the euro to 4.6782/6818 from 4.6786/6847. — Bernama