Jakarta Composite Index & Indonesian Rupiah Have a Bad Start on Monday
The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate continued to depreciate further on Monday’s trading day (26/05). Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the currency of Indonesia had depreciated 0.17 percent to IDR 11,595 per US dollar by 1pm local Jakarta time. On Monday morning the US dollar was strengthening against most emerging currencies in Asia. Meanwhile, the central bank's benchmark rupiah rate (Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, abbreviated JISDOR) depreciated 0.63 percent to IDR 11,633 against the US dollar.
Indonesian Rupiah versus US Dollar (JISDOR):
| Source: Bank IndonesiaThe Jakarta Composite Index (Indonesia’s benchmark stock index) fell 0.21 percent to 4,962.66 points during the first trading session today. After the opening, the index opened up in line with most other Asian stock indices. Asian markets gained on optimism about the US economy as new home sales increased (6.4 percent in April 2014) and indices on Wall Street closed on record-high levels on Friday (23/05). Standard & Poor's 500 ended 0.4 percent higher at 1,900.53, the first time it surpassed the 1,900 level. However, the Jakarta Composite Index could not maintain the momentum and declined shortly after its opening.
On Tuesday and Thursday this week, Indonesian financial markets are closed due to religious holidays. On Monday 2 June 2014, Statistics Indonesia will release important macroeconomic data, including May inflation and the April trade balance.