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Heavy buying

pushes ringgit

to 7-month highs

SINGAPORE: Heavy overseas buying pushed the Malaysian ringgit to a seven-month high on Thursday in a shift of sentiment towards the currency, dealers said.

Currency dealers said relentless Japanese buying in the last few days and relocation of assets from other regional currencies into the ringgit by many international funds were the driving forces behind the Malaysian currency's rise.

The ringgit was at 2.5155/65 per dollar after hitting a high of 2.5090 earlier and against a 2.5272/80 close in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

It has risen by nearly 200 basis points in the past two days making a total gain of 1.1 percent in 1996. A basis point is one one-hundreth of a percentage point. The currency's lowest level this year was 2.5680 per dollar on January 17.

"There is a major change in sentiment towards Malaysia," said Neil Saker, regional economist with Crosby Securities in Singapore.-Reuter