Battered Indonesian rupiah, Malaysia ringgit stage strong rally

Singapore

ASIA'S worst performing currencies, the Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit, rallied strongly to multi-week highs on Wednesday, helped by the previous day's intervention by Indonesian authorities, robust Malaysian data and a heavy liquidation of positions.

By the close of Asian trading, the ringgit had risen nearly 5 per cent against the US dollar to levels around 4.16 per dollar. The rupiah had risen 7 per cent over two days to 13,700 per dollar. On Sept 29, both currencies had fallen to more than 17 years lows, striking levels unseen since the Asian financial crisis.