TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The rupiah exchange rate was observed to strengthen at the opening of trading in early September 2021.

At 09:03 WIB (Western Indonesian Time), September 1, 2021, the rupiah rose 7.5 points or 0.05 percent to Rp14,260 per US dollar. The US dollar index was up 0.11 percent at 92.727.

Previously, Director of TRFX Garuda Futures Ibrahim Assuaibi explained that the movement in the rupiah before was supported by a positive market response to President Joko Widodo's policy of extending the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities or PPKM Level 4, 3, and 2 in Java-Bali.

The data shown is that the positivity rate has decreased in the past week, the bed occupancy rate of the Covid-19 hospital has also decreased in the past week, people affected by Covid-19 continue to experience a decline.

"However, the government reiterates that the PPKM policy will continue to apply as long as Covid-19 is still a pandemic and this policy also refers to WHO information, which is likely in 2021 the peak of the Delta variant pandemic will occur," he said.

Meanwhile, overseas, the US dollar continued to weaken against other currencies after Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not provide a clear timeline for asset reductions and rate hikes during the previous week's Jackson Hole symposium. He only suggested that the asset reduction timeline could be in 2021.

However, Fed President Loretta Mester said she was not convinced that recent inflation readings would be sufficient to meet the conditions for starting asset reductions, despite the continued US economic recovery from Covid-19.

Currently, investors are waiting for US economic data to be released later this week for clues on when the US Federal Reserve will start reducing assets. The latest US jobs report, including non-farm payrolls, will be released on Friday.

Data released on Monday, August 30, 2021 showed that pending home sales fell 1.8 percent month-on-month in July. And this could strengthen the case for further action - a pre-announcement in November with an official decision in December.

Meanwhile, for today's trading, Ibrahim estimates that the rupiah will fluctuate but in the range of Rp14,230 - Rp14,300.

Read: Economy Start to Show Recovery Signs after PPKM Level 4 Implementation: Minister

Martha Warta Silaban | Maudey K. Setyakusuma