Rupiah Rebounds at Thursday's Close  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The rupiah interbank exchange rate has rebounded by 109 points to trade at Rp12,558 per US dollar at the end of Thursday's trading session—up from its previous position at Rp12,667 per US dollar. 

"The rupiah and scores of other emerging market currencies are rebounding against the US dollar," said an analyst for Bank Himpunan Saudara, Rully Nova, in Jakarta on Thursday. 

According to Rully, the rupiah's rebound is driven by the speculations surrounding the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting—many are predicting that the Federal Reserve Bank of America will not rush to raise its core interest rate. 

"As per last night, the Fed has yet to signal a possible rate hike in the near future," said Rully, adding that the investors were starting to disregard the buzz surrounding the Fed rate, which may potentially drive investors to return to the Indonesian market. 

"Previously, foreign investors moved to unload riskier investments from their portfolios as they thought that the Fed would raise its interest rates sooner that they had initially expected," said Rully.

On the other hand, continued Rully, positive domestic sentiments are boosting the rupiah exchange rate as optimism on the prospects on Indonesia's infrastructure projects abounds. 

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia's (BI) middle rate on Thursday stood at Rp12,565 per US dollar—up from its Wednesday's position at Rp12,720 per US dollar. 

ANTARA