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RI stocks, rupiah gain after holiday; Asians fall
Indonesia's rupiah and stocks gained when the stock market resumed trading Thursday after four days off for the Idul Fitri national holiday - while most Asian currencies and stock markets fell
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ndonesia's rupiah and stocks gained when the stock market resumed trading Thursday after four days off for the Idul Fitri national holiday - while most Asian currencies and stock markets fell.
The rupiah rose 0.5 percent to 9,653 per dollar as of 6:22 p.m. in Jakarta, from 9,700 on Sept. 18, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The local currency reached 9,575 per dollar on Sept. 17, its strongest level since October 2008.
Meanwhile, the Indonesia Composite Index gained 0.5 percent to 2,468.90 at 4 p.m. closing at its highest since May 22 last year.
Most Asian stock markets fell, led by commodity and finance companies, Bloomberg reported. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 2.5 percent as Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. sank 11 percent on its first day of trading - Japan, India and Pakistan bourses also fell.
"The rupiah moved towards its fundamental level, of between 9,000 and 9,500 *per dollar*," said Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, chief researcher of Danareksa Research Institute.
"There are also external factors, like people selling the dollar, which was considered as a safe haven, as the US economy begins recovery," he added.
Most Asian currencies weakened against the dollar, pulling down a regional benchmark from its highest level in almost a year, as indicators suggested recent gains were excessive, Bloomberg reported.
The Korean won slid 0.3 percent to 1,197.65 per dollar as of 1:26 p.m. in Seoul; the Malaysian ringgit declined 0.3 percent to 3.4766 in Kuala Lumpur; India's rupee slid 0.4 percent to 48.16; the Singapore dollar dropped 0.3 percent to 1.4162; and the Philippine peso fell 0.2 percent to 47.52.
There was speculation that Indonesia's rupiah and stocks rose due to an improving economic outlook from the Asian Development Bank, which raised this year's economic growth forecast for Indonesia from 3.6 percent to 4.3 percent.
"We are growing faster than other countries," Yudhi said. "I think the rupiah will range between 9,000 and 9,600 *per dollar* until the first half next year."
Indonesia, India and China are the three developing economies that so far managed to score relatively high growth, supported by private consumption.
Stock market analyst Yanuar Rizki said Indonesia's currency and stocks usually rose after a long holiday as foreign investors gained from time-difference settlements.
"This has been a routine in every long holiday. Technically, investors were netting transactions when the bourse was off due to the Idul Fitri holiday," he said. Netting means to allow a positive value and a negative value of shares to off-set and partially or entirely cancel each other out.
"This way, they still gained from currencies," he added.
Yanuar predicted the Jakarta Composite Index will decline in the next few days as investors settled their transactions.
