This occurred after Bank Indonesia increased its reference rate by 25 basis points to 6 percent on Thursday and amid the weakening of the US dollar.

This indicates that the positive sentiment of the central bank's move is stronger than the negative sentiment of the trade data, which showed a trade deficit of US$1.82 billion in October, the second-highest deficit this year after a five-year high deficit of $2.03 billion in July.

The rupiah was down by 12.42 percent against US dollar through January to October, but with the latest data, the year-to-date (ytd) correction narrowed to 7.74 percent.

However, the rupiah performance was still the second-worst in the region after the Indian rupee.

The Philippine peso weakening also narrowed to 6.26 percent after the Philippine’s central bank also increased its reference rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 percent on Thursday.

An analyst with securities firm Samuel Sekuritas Indonesia, Ahmad Mikail, as quoted by kontan.co.id, warned that the dollar could strengthen again as a result of the uncertainty in the European Union following the resignations of ministers from British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet over May’s proposed Brexit agreements. (bbn)

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