Oil prices were near fresh record levels of above 110 dollars in Asian trade Thursday, held up by the falling US currency, dealers said.

The continued rush of investors into commodities looking for a safe haven to hedge against inflation and the weakening dollar was also boosting crude prices, they said.

In early morning trade, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery briefly traded at 110.12 US dollars a barrel before easing to 109.85 dollars.

New York oil prices set a new trading high of 110.20 dollars on Wednesday during US hours, before closing at a new record high of 109.92 dollars.

Meanwhile, London's Brent North Sea crude for April delivery eased 22 cents to 106.05 dollars.

"Fundamentals are well and truly out of the window when it comes to oil prices," said Jan Lambregts, head of regional research at Rabobank in Hong Kong.

"A lot of money's obviously looking for a place to park and crude oil appears to be one popular destination among commodities in general," he said, adding "the weak dollar doesn't help one bit at this stage."

The ailing dollar has also fuelled a spike in world oil prices because crude is priced in dollars and has become cheaper to buy for purchasers holding stronger currencies.

The US unit sank to a new low of 1.5570 dollars to one euro on Wednesday.