The ringgit rose to the strongest in almost a decade as gains in stocks worldwide boosted the appetite for emerging market securities.

The currency extended a four-week gain after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Sept 18 meeting published Tuesday allayed concerns over a housing slump in the US, Malaysia’s biggest export destination. Global funds turned net buyers of Malaysia’s stocks in the first half of the year, from net sales in the same period in 2006.

“The US outlook has given the stock market some confidence and we should see a stronger ringgit on fund inflows,” said Awaluddin Shariff, a currency dealer at EON Bank Bhd.

The currency gained 0.7% to 3.3740 against the US dollar as at 5.22pm, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The increase was the biggest in three weeks, taking the currency to the highest since November 1997.

Malaysia’s benchmark stock index advanced to an 11-week high after US stock indices rallied to records.

The Fed minutes showed policy makers avoided language that may have suggested the US economy would contract. St Louis Fed president William Poole said in a speech Tuesday that the financial markets were showing signs of stability.

Overseas investors bought a net RM23.2bil of stocks in the first half of this year, versus net sales of RM4.1bil in the six months to June 2006, according to central bank data released Sept 28.

They held RM72.2bil of Malaysian debt in July, the most since records began in 1991.