Rupiah Takes Hit as Coronavirus Fear Weakens Market

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The rupiah interbank exchange rate in Jakarta weakened on Monday, as the market is weakened by negative sentiments from the coronavirus spread. Rupiah opened the first trading day of February at Rp13,722 per US dollar, down 0.49 percent from last week's close.

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia's middle rate on today showed the rupiah corrected to Rp13,726 per US dollar compared to Friday's Rp13,662.

"News of the increasing number of coronavirus infections in China and across the globe triggered fears among market players , correcting the prices of risk assets," Monex Investindo Futures chief researcher Ariston said in Jakarta, Monday, February 3.

China's economy is expected to experience a halt because of the situation, leading to a global growth slowdown. 

Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) has injected 1.2 trillion yuans to the repo market in an effort to stimulate the state's economy.  

The policy is expected to keep risk assets and US Treasury yields from further correction, as well as withholding the US dollar's gain on emerging markets' currencies—including the Indonesian rupiah.    

For the rest of today's trade, Ariston predicted the rupiah to move between Rp13,630 and Rp13,680 per US dollar.

ANTARA