Rupiah Down to Rp13,475 per US Dollar

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The rupiah dropped 10 points to Rp13.475 per US on Wednesday morning, August 5 at the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR).

NH Korindo Securities Indonesia chief researcher Reza Priyambada said the US dollar regained some strength after the US economic data released showed better results that what the market had expected.  

The US Department of Commerce recorded a 1.8 percent increase in new orders for manufactured goods in June to US$478.5 billion, slightly above market forecasts.

"As a result, the greenback strengthened in global markets, including here in Indonesia," he said.

In addition, investors this morning were rather pessimistic about domestic economic pace in the second quarter of 2015. The Central Statistics Agency will release Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, and the market is projecting that growth rate is still slow during that period.

"It seems that our hope for a rupiah rebound is thin if the GDP data does show a declining rate. That situation will make the market look for alternative currencies that are safer to maintain the value of their assets," he said.

Samuel Sekuritas economist Samuel Rangga Cipta said that projections of a 4.6 percent GDP rate for the second quarter 2015, which is lower than the previous quarter, will add to the already abundant negative sentiments against the rupiah.

Rangga also said that Indonesia's consumer confidence index in July 2015 that fell 1.4 points to 109.9 added yet another negative sentiment to the rupiah's pace. 

ANTARA | RR