On Tuesday Morning, Rupiah Opened To Weaken 0.05 Percent To Rp14,940 Per US Dollar

Illustration. (Photo: Bank Indonesia)

JAKARTA - The rupiah in trading on the spot market opened lower at its opening. On Tuesday, March 17, the rupiah opened down 7 points or 0.05 percent to the level of Rp14,940 per US dollar

Head of Research at Monex Investindo Futures, Ariston Tjendra, said that sentiment has not improved, with risk assets still being depressed, including the rupiah.

"Last night Wallstreet fell by more than 12 percent. Market concerns about the spread of the coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak are still high," Ariston told VOI.

But, he said, this morning the Nikkei index moved positively, S&P Futures too. "Perhaps the news of stimulus preparations from the US government helped lift sentiment in some market players," he explained.

The US government is still negotiating with the Senate to roll out a bigger stimulus package. The New Zealand government also released a New Zealand dollar 12.1 billion stimulus this morning. The Australian Central Bank is also preparing for further monetary stimulus.

"The rupiah still has the potential to be depressed due to concerns over the spread of corona, but US stimulus sentiment could help prevent the weakening of the rupiah," said Ariston.

Rupiah weakened along with the majority of other Asian currencies. The Philippine Pesso led the Asian currency's weakness against the US dollar by 1.18 percent weakness, the Korean won weakened 0.99 percent, the Japanese yen weakened 0.79 percent, the Indian rupee weakened 0.48 percent, the Taiwan dollar weakened 0.16 percent, the dollar Hong Kong was down 0.04 percent and the Thai baht was down 0.04 percent against the US dollar.