By David Yong Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's ringgit fell for a fifth day on speculation overseas investors will keep selling emerging-market assets as the credit-market crisis threatens to push the global economy into a recession. The currency traded at the weakest in more than a year as the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dropped 1.4 percent today, taking this year's loss to 32 percent. Iceland yesterday nationalized its second-largest lender and the U.K. said it planned to unveil a rescue plan for some of its biggest lenders. ``The financial crisis is still lingering with the stock slump and there continues to be a lot of risk aversion,'' said Awaluddin Shariff, a currency trader at EON Bank Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. ``The ringgit is trading with a weaker bias, especially in the forwards market.'' The ringgit fell 0.2 percent to 3.4985 per dollar as of 9:32 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency may reach 3.51 today, the lowest level since Sept. 12, 2007, Awaluddin said. The ringgit may weaken to 3.4993 in three months, according to non-deliverable forward contracts. Forwards are agreements in which assets are bought and sold at current prices for future delivery. Malaysia's export growth may have slowed to 16.5 percent in August from a year earlier, from 25.4 percent in July, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. The trade ministry will release its report at 12:01 p.m. in Kuala Lumpur. To contact the reporter on this story: David Yong in Singapore at dyong@bloomberg.net.

Source