Unclear US-China Trade Agreement Has Potential To Make Rupiah Weakening Today

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The rupiah exchange rate on the spot market was strong again at the start of trading today, Wednesday, August 26. The rupiah opened up 0.44 percent to a level of Rp14,585 per US dollar (US).

Based on VOI monitoring at 09:20, the rupiah was still in the green zone, but was moving towards weakening. Rupiah was at the level of Rp14,628 or strengthened 0.15 percent at 09:20 hours.

Head of Research at Monex Investindo Futures, Ariston Tjendra, said the market reaction looked negative at the start of the Asian market opening this morning. Rupiah has the potential to weaken following this sentiment.

"The market is still skeptical about the continuation of the US-China trade deal phase 1 because of the heated political relationship between the two," Ariston told VOI.

But on the other hand, he continued, the US dollar was also under pressure because the US consumer confidence survey data for August which was released last night was far below the previous month's data.

The market, according to him, is also waiting for the US Central Bank Governor's speech at a meeting of World Central Bank officials this week, who may be dovish or pessimistic about the economic conditions in the US.

"The rupiah has the potential to weaken today with a range of Rp14,575-14,750 per US dollar," he said.

Until 09.00 WIB, most currencies in the region are in the green zone. Where the Thai baht is one level below the rupiah after strengthening 0.19 percent against the US dollar.

Followed by the Taiwan dollar which rose 0.18 percent and the Chinese yuan which rose 0.15 percent. Then there is the Malaysian ringgit which has appreciated 0.02 percent.

Followed by the Singapore dollar and Hong Kong dollar, which respectively edged up 0.007 percent and 0.004 percent against the US dollar this morning.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen became the currency with the deepest weakness after falling 0.11 percent. This was followed by the South Korean won which weakened 0.10 percent against the US dollar.

Next is the Philippine peso, which saw a slight correction of 0.002 percent this morning.