Similar to yesterday, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah are still moving cautiously on Thursday (30/07). Supported by yesterday’s rising US stocks and today’s mostly rising stocks in the Asia-Pacific region, the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index climbed 0.22 percent in the first trading session on Thursday. However, the latest statements from the US Federal Reserve also signal that a US interest rate hike is coming closer, hence giving rise to a stronger US dollar at the expense of most global currencies and the gold price.

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Indonesian stocks and the rupiah continued to weaken on the first trading day of the week, especially due to negative global market sentiments. China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled a staggering 8.48 percent on Monday (27/07), its worst daily percentage fall since February 2007. Furthermore, Wall Street closed broadly lower on Friday (24/07) for the fourth straight day. Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah continued to depreciate against the US dollar, making Indonesian assets unattractive to foreign investors.

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Indonesia’s decision to raise import tariffs for food, cars, clothes as well as various other consumer goods put additional downward pressure on Indonesian stocks on the last trading day of the week (24/07). Those listed companies (retailers) that rely on imported goods saw their shares tumble as a consequence of the higher import tariffs. The Indonesian Finance Ministry raised import duties for consumer goods between 10 and 150 percent (depending on product) in a bid to boost the country’s consumer goods industry and curtail imports.

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It is expected to be another difficult day for Indonesian stocks and the rupiah as there are few to none positive market sentiments that can support these assets on today’s trading day. Wall Street closed lower on Thursday (23/07) for the third consecutive day on disappointing financial results of several big companies, dragging down indices in the East. Commodity indices continue to fall (oil returning to bear market on resilient US output and rising OPEC supply). Meanwhile, sharp rupiah depreciation makes investors nervous.

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Rupiah kembali menyentuh batasan psikologis Rp 13.400 per dollar Amerika Serikat (AS). Menurut Bloomberg Dollar Index, mata uang Indonesia telah melemah 0,22% menjadi Rp 13.405 per dollar AS pada pukul 11:22 WIB pada hari Kamis (23/07), sebuah level yang terakhir disentuh rupiah saat Indonesia masih kena dampak Krisis Finasial Asia pada tahun 1998. Melewati batasan psikologis ini bisa berarti bank sentral Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) akan kembali mengintervensi untuk mendukung rupiah dalam rangka melindungi kepercayaan terhadap rupiah.

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Perdagangan saham di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) dimulai kembali pada hari Rabu (22/07) setelah libur Idul Fitri selama 4 hari berakhir. Segera setelah dibuka, Indeks Harga Saham Gabungan (IHSG) naik 0,50% karena optimisme para investor mengenai performa terkini yang baik dari pasar saham global setelah Yunani yang terbeban hutang mencapai kesepakatan dengan para koordinator internasionalnya sementara guncangan di saham Republik Rakyat Tiongkok (RRT) memudar.

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Menurut Bloomberg Dollar Index, rupiah terus melemah pada hari Senin (20/07). Mata uang Indonesia melemah 0,31% menjadi Rp 13.395 per dollar Amerika Serikat (AS), level terlemahnya sejak 1998 waktu negara ini dilanda oleh Krisis Finansial Asia. Sementara itu, aktivitas Bank Indonesia masih terbatas sampai hari Rabu (22/07) karena libur umum (perayaan Idul Fitri), menyebabkan bank sentral untuk sementara tidak mempublikasikan Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR).

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Indonesian stocks and the rupiah weakened further on Wednesday (08/07) due to the continuing fall of Chinese stocks (raising concerns about global economic growth) and the downward revision of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s economic growth forecasts for Indonesia in 2015. Furthermore, global uncertainty brought about by the looming Greek exit (Grexit) from the euro continues to plague markets worldwide and makes investors prefer to wait for more certain times.

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Agus Martowardojo, Governor of Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia), predicts that the current economic turmoil in the Eurozone, caused by the Greek debt crisis, will impact on the stability of developing countries, including Indonesia. Although in terms of both trade and investment there should not be a real impact originating from Greek turmoil, the perception of macroeconomic stability will be somewhat hit on the back of global uncertainty. In line with most markets, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah weakened on Monday (06/07).

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Eric Sugandi, Chief Economist dari Standard Chartered Bank, memprediksi bahwa rupiah akan melemah menjadi Rp 13.900 per dollar Amerika Serikat (AS) pada akhir tahun ini dari Rp 13.339 pada hari ini (29/06) karena dampak dari momentum bullish dollar AS menjelang pengetatan moneter di AS dan ancaman keluarnya Yunani dari zona euro. Sebenarnya, ini adalah prognosa konservatif. Apabila bank sentral Indonesia tidak meningkatkan suku bunga acuannya (BI rate), sekarang pada 7,50%, tekanan terhadap rupiah mungkin akan meningkat nyata secara lebih lanjut.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate depreciated considerably on Wednesday (25/06) after Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia) said it would allow rupiah depreciation in an attempt to boost competitiveness of the country’s exports, while curbing imports. This strategy will have a positive impact on the country’s troubled trade balance. Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the currency had weakened 0.67 percent to IDR 12,070 per US dollar by 14:30pm local Jakarta time.

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The Indonesia rupiah exchange rate depreciated 0.16 percent to IDR 11,992 per US dollar on Monday (23/06) according to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, thus extending the currency’s recent depreciating trend. Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia's benchmark rupiah rate (known as the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, or, abbreviated JISDOR) depreciated 0.03 percent to IDR 11,971 against the greenback. What were the factors that influenced the rupiah’s performance today?

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The benchmark stock index of Indonesia (Jakarta Composite Index, abbreviated IHSG) declined 0.34 percent to 4,847.70 points on Friday (20/06). Trade was thin on this week’s last trading day with only about 3.4 billion shares - valued at IDR 3.8 trillion (USD $319 million) - being traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (well below the average daily value of IDR 6.1 trillion). Foreign investors accounted for 48 percent of total trading, recording net buying worth of IDR 31.3 billion (USD $2.6 million).

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After the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate temporarily surpassed the psychological boundary of IDR 12,000 per US dollar on Wednesday (18/06), concerns about the fundamentals of the currency emerged. The currency has been under pressure recently due to external factors (monetary policy of the Federal Reserve and geopolitical tensions in Iraq) and domestic factors (large private debt, significant US dollar demand, the wide trade deficit and political uncertainty ahead of the presidential election).

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate depreciated 0.62 percent to IDR 11,893 per US dollar on Tuesday (17/06), a four-month low. The main reason behind this poor performance is increased concern about the impact of violence in northern Iraq - namely higher global oil prices - on Indonesia’s trade and budget deficits as Indonesia subsidises a significant amount of domestic fuels). As oil and gas imports accounted for about 23 percent of total imports of Indonesia in April 2014.

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As the market already expected that Indonesia’s benchmark interest rate (BI rate) would be kept at 7.50 percent in June 2014, the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate did not undergo any significant fluctuations on Friday’s trading day. Based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the currency had depreciated 0.05 percent to IDR 11,796 per US dollar by 16:25pm local Jakarta time. The US dollar had to cope with some pressures due to US retail sales (rising only +0.3 percent in May 2014) and weaker US jobless claims data.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate appreciated slightly on Wednesday (11/06). According to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the currency of Southeast Asia’s largest economy appreciated 0.04 percent to IDR 11,810 per US dollar. Reuters reported that the euro zone's monetary easing in combination with the recent improvement in China's economy offset the impact of higher US yields on Asia. However, investors are still waiting for several data, including the BI interest rate, the Eurozone’s industrial production, and US retail sales.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate appreciated 0.25 percent to IDR 11,860 per US dollar according to the Bloomberg Dollar Index on Thursday (05/06). However, this is not expected to be the start of an appreciating trend for the currency as there are still various domestic and international factors that place pressure on the rupiah. Contrary to the Bloomberg Index, Bank Indonesia's benchmark rupiah rate (Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, abbreviated JISDOR) depreciated 0.54 percent to IDR 11,874 against the US dollar today.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate continued to depreciate further on Wednesday (04/06). According to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the currency of Indonesia had weakened 0.38 percent to IDR 11,855 per US dollar by 15:00pm local Jakarta time. The depreciation occurred due to US dollar demand from local importers for payments and renewed concern about the country's trade balance. Today's performance of the rupiah is in line with the performance of other Asian currencies as investors return to the US dollar on higher US yields.

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The Indonesian rupiah exchange rate depreciated 0.77 percent to IDR 11,766 per US dollar on Monday (02/06) based on the Bloomberg Dollar Index. From the start of trading the currency of Southeast Asia's largest economy immediately plummeted as market participants anticipated a trade deficit in April 2014. Last Friday, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) announced that it expects Indonesia to post a deficit in April, whereas earlier statements of the central bank had mentioned a slight surplus.

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