Rupiah Closed Wednesday, Strengthening To Rp14,865 Per US Dollar

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate on the spot market closed higher on trading Wednesday, May 13. The rupiah closed up 0.27 percent or 40 points to the level of Rp14,865 per US dollar.

Head of Research at Monex Investindo Futures, Ariston Tjendra, previously said that negative sentiment was still overshadowing the movement of risky assets. However, the rupiah managed to rise higher at the close of trading today.

But tomorrow, it is estimated that negative sentiment will still overshadow the movement of the rupiah. Market concerns about the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak due to easing lockdowns are still the main sentiment.

The market is also still worried about the outbreak that has not completely subsided. In Indonesia, the number of infected people continues to increase and there has not really been a decline, so many predict that the outbreak will last longer and this could put further pressure on the economy.

This afternoon, the rupiah took the lead in strengthening the majority of Asian currencies against the US dollar. Apart from the rupiah, the Thai baht also strengthened 0.16 percent, the Philippine peso strengthened 0.10 percent, the Japanese yen strengthened 0.10 percent, the Korean won strengthened 0.09 percent, the Indian rupee strengthened 0.04 percent, the Hong Kong dollar strengthened 0.003 percent against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan weakened 0.18 percent, the Malaysian ringgit weakened 0.09 percent, and the Taiwan dollar weakened 0.02 percent against the US dollar until this afternoon.