Still Overshadowed By Corona, The Rupiah Weakened Monday To A Level Of Rp13,742 Per US Dollar

Illustration. (Photo: Bank Indonesia)

JAKARTA - The movement of the rupiah exchange rate ended lowering at the close of trading on Monday 3 February. The rupiah weakened 87 points or 0.64 percent at the level of Rp13,742 per US dollar.

Head of Research at Monex Investindo Futures Ariston Tjendra said the news of the increasing spread of the corona virus in China and globally had triggered the return of market worries so that the prices of risky assets decreased.

"China's economy could slow down and it could slow down the pace of global economic growth," Ariston told VOI, Monday, February 3.

He added that global concern about the corona virus was increasing. Moreover, the number of infected victims has reached more than 10,000 people.

This outbreak is also seen as one of the reasons the People Bank of China (PBoC) cut interest rates by 10 bps and intends to provide a stimulus of 1.2 trillion yuan to ensure liquidity.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's inflation data for January 2020 was 0.39 percent. This figure is below the forecast of analysts who estimate January inflation to reach 0.46 percent.

The depreciation of the rupiah is in line with the majority of currencies in Asia. In which, the Chinese yuan became the currency with the sharpest decline after correcting 1.55 percent against the US dollar. This is considered reasonable, because China's financial market has just opened after the government's extended Chinese New Year holiday due to the corona virus outbreak.

Quarter three coins, the Malaysian ringgit and Korean won are also in the red zone after dropping 0.39 percent and 0.26 percent, respectively. The Indian rupee also eroded 0.26 percent.

The Singapore dollar and Japanese yen could not hold back the US dollar index's advantage because it fell 0.25 percent and 0.20 percent, respectively. Followed by the Taiwan dollar and Hong Kong dollar which depreciated 0.18 percent and 0.04 percent.

Meanwhile, the Thai baht as the currency managed to strengthen against the US dollar after rising 0.36 percent. The Philippine peso is also in the green zone because it has slightly appreciated 0.02 percent.