Ringgit rallies with stocks

SINGAPORE: The ringgit gained the most in five months and the benchmark stock index closed at a six-week high after an overnight surge in Brent crude eased concern that finances will deteriorate for Asia’s only major oil exporter.

The ringgit climbed 1.3% to a two-week high of 4.2545 a US dollar in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s the biggest advance for this year’s worst-performing Asian currency since April 24. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index (FBM KLCI) of shares rose 2.1%. Brent crude rallied 6.7% on Wednesday, the steepest increase in more than two weeks.