Weakening Continues, Rupiah Predicted To Rp16,900 Per US Dollar

Dollars and rupiah (photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Financial Market Observer and Commodity Ariston Tjendra said that the movement of the rupiah has the potential to weaken against the United States (US) dollar on Friday, April 25.

Ariston said that the US unemployment allowance claims released last night were in line with projections, although the figure was higher than the previous week. However, this did not weaken the US dollar exchange rate, which was seen as rising again this morning.

According to him, the attitude of US President Donald Trump, who has begun to soften towards China, has also provided positive sentiment for the financial market.

"Currently, the reaction is to strengthen the US dollar because the level of consumption in the US will be helped if the import rate is not high. The US consumes a lot of imported goods," he told VOI, Friday, April 25.

On the other hand, Ariston said that regional currencies have weakened the US dollar in line with strengthening the currency and the issue of this import tariff policy is also still a source of concern for market players.

Meanwhile, he assessed that the rupiah exchange rate did not strengthen yesterday, in contrast to several other regional currencies which actually strengthened against the US dollar.

"This indicates that the pressure on the rupiah is still high," he said.

He said that the movement of the rupiah on Friday, April 25 has the potential to weaken to the level of Rp. 16,900 per US dollar with the potential for support in the range of Rp. 16,850 per US dollar.

Quoting Bloomberg, on Thursday, April 24, the rupiah spot exchange rate closed down 0.01 percent to the level of Rp. 16,873 per US dollar. Meanwhile, the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (Jisdor) exchange rate closed down 0.02 percent to a price level of Rp. 16,884 per US dollar.