Rupiah Gains on Global Sentiments
27 February 2015 13:42 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The weakening of the US dollar against a basket of major currencies allowed the rupiah to gain. In yesterday's currency trade, the rupiah appreciated 25 points (0.19 percent) to close at Rp12,831 per US dollar.
Platon Niaga Berjangka analyst Lukman Leong said the rupiah benefited from a weak greenback. "Two significant factors triggering the dollar correction was the certainty of Greece staying in the euro zone and the delayed Fed Rate hike."
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the country will remain an an integral part of the euro zone and continue working with the European Central Bank (ECB) in order to avoid the threat of default in March. His statement guaranteed that the ECB's €2-billion purchase on Greek bonds will go smoothly.
The greenback is also suffering from Janet Yellen's statement that The Fed will keep interest rates at near zero percent until inflation data improves. There is also the speculation that the Fed Rate hike will be delayed at least until the third quarter of 2015, giving investors more time to seek high returns from other currencies, Lukman said.
Lukman advises investors to keep an eye on the potential of a weaker rupiah as corporate demand for the US dollar tends to increase at the end of the month.
PDAT | M. AZHAR