The rupiah interbank trade rate appreciated slightly by nine basis points to Rp 11,960 per US dollar on Friday morning.

Woori Korindo Securities analyst Reza Priyambada said that the rupiah continued to strengthen following the release of US economic data on a rising unemployment rate and a decreasing demand in its manufacturing sector.

"This situation has made market players think that the Federal Reserve will not immediately increase its benchmark interest rate," Reza said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Differing from the rupiah, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) dropped by 1.2 percent, equal to 63 basis points, to 5,137 by 9 a.m. on Friday.

Shares in all sectors traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) weakened, with 'basic industry' recording the biggest fall as it declined by 1.81 percent, kontan.co.id reported.

More than 170 stocks weakened significantly during the morning trading, while 24 stocks strengthened and 36 stocks remained stable.

The volume of trade involved 521.89 billion shares worth Rp 774 billion (US$64.6 million).

Muhammad Alfatih, an analyst from Samuel Sekuritas, said that a lack of optimism in the market caused the drop in the JCI.

He said that at present investors were still waiting for the financial reports of every publicly listed company on the IDX.  (nfo)

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