Wednesday Morning Rupiah Gains 25 Points To Rp14,880 Per US Dollar

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate on the spot market on Wednesday, May 13 this morning was opened stronger. The rupiah strengthened 25 points to a level of Rp14,880 per US dollar (US).

Head of Research at Monex Investindo Futures, Ariston Tjendra, said that even though it was opened higher, negative sentiment still overshadows the movement of risky assets such as the stock index.

"There is probably no change in sentiment because last night the US stock index was still under pressure," Ariston told VOI.

The negative sentiment, according to him, was caused by market concerns about the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak due to the easing of the lockdown. The market is also still worried about the outbreak that has not completely subsided.

"In Indonesia, the number of infected people is still increasing and there has not really been a decline, so many predict that the outbreak will last longer and this could put pressure on the economy even longer," he explained.

He predicts that today the rupiah has the potential to weaken with a potential range of IDR 14,850-15,150 per US dollar.

This morning in Asia, the rupiah strengthened along with several other Asian currencies. The strengthening of Asian currencies this morning was led by the Indian rupee which strengthened 0.31 percent, the Philippine peso strengthened 0.06 percent, the Thai baht strengthened 0.03 percent and the Hong Kong dollar strengthened 0.06 percent against the US dollar.