Rupiah Weakened Due To Worries Of China-United States Conflict

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate on the spot market closed in the red zone earlier this week. On Monday, August 10, the rupiah closed down 0.15 percent or 23 points to the level of Rp14,648 per US dollar (US).

Head of Research at Monex Investindo Futures, Ariston Tjendra, said that the weakening of the rupiah was triggered by the possibility that the market was worried about the tension between the US and China.

"That was after President Donald Trump issued an order to block Wechat and Tik Tok in the US and sanctions for Chinese and Hong Kong officials who issued the Hong Kong Security Act," Ariston told VOI.

This US attitude, said Ariston, could disrupt trade relations with China which could spread to other countries, because these two countries are the two countries with the world's largest economies.

Until 15.00 WIB, currency movements in the Asia Pacific region were still variable. But now the Malaysian ringgit has become the currency with the deepest weakness in Asia, having weakened 0.20 percent against the US dollar.

Followed by the Taiwan dollar which fell into the red zone after having corrected 0.10 percent. Furthermore, there was the South Korean won, which depreciated 0.08 percent.

Then the Singapore dollar and the Japanese yen both fell 0.07 percent against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the Thai baht was still the biggest strengthening currency after gaining 0.22 percent. Followed by the Philippine peso, which rose 0.05 percent.

Furthermore, the Indian rupee appreciated 0.03 percent and the Chinese yuan rose 0.02 percent. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong dollar was still moving slightly and strengthened 0.001 percent this afternoon.