By Elffie Chew
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The ringgit snapped a five-day losing streak as data suggesting growth is quickening in China, Asia's biggest economy, brightened the outlook for Malaysian exports and spurred demand for emerging-market assets.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of stocks advanced for an eighth day, the longest winning streak since June 2010, after China's industrial output and retail sales rose last month at the fastest pace since March. The ringgit fell the most in a month on Dec. 7 after a government report showed exports
declined 3.2 percent in October from a year earlier following a 2.6 percent gain in September.
"China's better economic data are the main driver of the firmer Asian currencies," said Wee-Khoon Chong, a strategist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong. "The ringgit should continue to rally as the weaker Malaysian exports numbers won't have much impact on the currency."
The ringgit advanced 0.1 percent to 3.0548 per dollar as of 8:51 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, following a 0.4 percent drop on Dec. 7, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. One-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, increased 21 basis points, or 0.21 percentage point, to 4.40 percent. The gauge ended last week at the lowest level since June 2007.
China's industrial production climbed 10.1 percent in November from a year earlier and retail sales rose 14.9 percent, the statistics bureau said yesterday. China, including Hong Kong, is the biggest buyer of Malaysian exports.
Malaysia's government bonds gained. The yield on the 3.418 percent notes maturing in August 2022 decreased one basis point to 3.51 percent, according to Bursa Malaysia.
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