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Rupiah weakens to 14,031 per dollar on Monday afternoon
The rupiah exchange rate traded on Monday afternoon weakened by 49 points to Rp 14,031 per US dollar from Rp 13,982
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The rupiah exchange rate traded on Monday afternoon weakened by 49 points to Rp 14,031 per US dollar from Rp 13,982.
PT Platon Niaga Berjangka analyst Lukman Leong said the rupiah weakened as investors tended to take a 'wait and see' approach ahead of the release of Indonesia's economic data for the period of August by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
'Investors are taking a 'wait and see' stance to anticipate the country's inflation data, which is set to be released on Tuesday. In the midst of the situation, investors have tended to release a part of their rupiah assets. It is hoped that the inflation rate will be still in a low position so it can support the domestic currency's exchange rate,' he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Lukman said it was also hoped that other domestic economic data to be released in the middle of September would record improved export and import work performances.
Externally, he said, the US dollar was still supported by US non-farm payroll (NFP) projection data which showed improvements. The data is set to be released later this week. If the NFP data increased, the US dollar would have the potential to continue its strengthening trend against the rupiah.
However, Lukman said, the US dollar was also still prone to corrections following suggestions from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Dennis Lockhart that the Fed should consider increasing its interest rate in the midst of global economic conditions which were still slowing down.
NH Korindo Securities Indonesia head of research Reza Priyambada said the rupiah exchange rate had consolidated ahead of the release of domestic economic data on Tuesday.
'The rupiah can reverse and strengthen against the US dollar if the released domestic economic data shows positive results, one of which is a low inflation rate,' said the analyst.
Bank Indonesia's median rate recorded that the rupiah exchange rate weakened to Rp 14,027 per dollar on Monday from Rp 14,011 the previous day. (ebf)
