After The 75th Anniversary Of The Republic Of Indonesia, The Rupiah's Spirit Strengthens

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate on the spot market opened higher on trading Tuesday, August 18. The rupiah opened slightly higher by 0.22 percent or 33 points to a level of Rp14,763 per US dollar (US).

Head of Research at Monex Investindo Futures, Ariston Tjendra, said the US dollar seemed to be weakening against the regional exchange rate this morning.

"The pressure on the US dollar was caused by an indication of the instability of the economic recovery in the US from the US economic data released last night, namely the New York region manufacturing activity index data released far below projections," Ariston told VOI.

Meanwhile, low bond yields also make the US dollar unattractive for now. This negative sentiment towards the US dollar could encourage strengthening of the rupiah exchange rate.

But on the other hand, he said, the market needed to be aware of factors that could put pressure on the rupiah, such as tensions in the US-China relationship, fears of a pandemic that suppressed the domestic economic recovery and Indonesia's trade balance data for July which was below expectations.

"Today's rupiah has the potential to be in the range of IDR 14,650-14,850 per US dollar," said Ariston.

This morning, until 09.00 WIB, the movement of the majority of Asian currencies strengthened. Only the South Korean won and Thai baht moved in the red zone this morning.

The South Korean won was seen down 0.04 percent and became the currency with the deepest weakness in Asia. Following behind it, the baht is seen weakening 0.02 percent against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen is just below the rupiah after rising 0.27 percent. Followed by the Taiwan dollar which strengthened 0.17 percent against the US dollar.

Then there is the Philippine peso and the Malaysian ringgit which both lifted 0.12 percent. Next, the Singapore dollar has appreciated 0.09 percent. Followed by the Chinese yuan, which pledged 0.04 percent.