KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The ringgit closed higher against the US dollar today thanks to firmer oil prices and bullish trade numbers for February.

At 6pm, the local note was traded at 4.2290/2320 versus the greenback compared with yesterday’s close of 4.2305/2330.

An analyst said oil prices were picking up again after declining last week, as expectations from China began to rebound amid a lockdown in Shanghai to curb a resurgent Covid-19 outbreak.

As of the time of writing, benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.64 per cent higher at US$105.3 (RM445) per barrel.

Last month, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) announced that the country’s total trade for February 2022 grew 17.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM184.8 billion, with exports up by 16.8 per cent to RM102.3 billion and imports increasing by 18.4 per cent to RM82.5 billion.

"With the re-opening of international borders, this will further fuel more Malaysian-made products as all economic activities have resumed.

"This is expected to boost the ringgit spending and hopefully, the local note will continue to appreciate,” the analyst told Bernama.

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

It was slightly higher against the Singapore dollar to 3.1009/1033 from 3.1015/1036 yesterday’s close and strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.3548/3574 from 3.3674/3697.

The local unit advanced against the euro to 4.5813/5845 from 4.5998/6025 and marginally decreased vis-a-vis the British pound to 5.5028/5067 from 5.5026/5059 previously. — Bernama