Rupiah Depreciates by 16 Points at Thursday's Close  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The rupiah interbank exchange rate in Jakarta slipped by 16 points on Thursday evening to trade on Rp12,872 per United States (US) dollar, down from its previous position at Rp12,856 per US dollar.

The head of research at NH Korindo Securities, Reza Priyambada, said in Jakarta on Thursday that the rupiah was depreciating against the greenback as market players' worries on Greece's debt situation linger, despite the fact that the bailout agreement had been extended for another four months.

"Some players in the financial market is still worried about the situation in Greece as the risk of a default still lingers," said Reza.

That said, Reza aadded that market players were beginning to look into domestic reference points to consolidate their investment stances, and some had already anticipated the release of the February 2015 inflation figures and trade balance for January 2015, which were due to be released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) on Tuesday next week.

"After concluding that the Fed's is not planning to raise its fund rate anytime soon, market players are looking inwards for cues, so be on the lookout, especially if the domestic economic performance figures fail to match the market's expectations," said Reza.

The head of research at Monex Investindo Futures, Ariston Tjendra, said that those in the financial market were waiting for the release of consumer indexes from the US and Canada, which were due to be released simultaneously.

"Usually, riskier currencies depreciate when their consumer index rises. Furthermore, the US is set to release its data on unemployment benefit claims, as well as durable goods orders for the month of January, which are set to beat the previous months' figures," said Ariston.

ANTARA