Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Hong Kong Monetary Authority denied market speculation that its officials have asked China to allow the city to revise its fixed exchange rate.

Medley Global Advisors, founded in 1997 by Richard Medley, former chief political strategist at Soros Fund Management, said Hong Kong suggested widening the band in which the currency is allowed to trade or linking Hong Kong dollar's exchange rate to a basket of currencies, Ming Pao Daily, the Hong Kong-based Chinese-language newspaper, reported.

``We are aware of rumors circulating in the market arising from a report saying the government is lobbying Beijing's support to change the peg,'' Thomas Chan, a spokesman for the HKMA, said in a telephone interview. ``These rumors are totally unfounded.''

Medley Global, a U.S. consulting firm, said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao rejected the proposals about any change to Hong Kong dollar's peg with the U.S. dollar in the near term, and asked Hong Kong's de facto central bank to take steps when necessary to protect the peg, the newspaper said.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority yesterday sold HK$7.828 billion ($1 billion) in the foreign-exchange market to defend its currency's 24-year-old fixed exchange rate, as overseas investors bet the city's assets will benefit from growth in China's economy. The sales were 10 times larger than the two previous interventions last month after Hong Kong's currency climbed to HK$7.75 per dollar, the top of its permitted trading range.

To contact the reporters for this story: Patricia Kuo in Hong Kong at pkuo2@bloomberg.net; Aaron Pan in Hong Kong at Apan8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 31, 2007 20:17 EDT