• Rupiah Update: Weak US Jobs Data Supports Indonesian Assets

    Indonesian stocks and the rupiah are performing well on Monday’s trading day (06/04) after weak US economic data suggests that the US central bank (Federal Reserve) will still refrain from raising its key interest rate too soon. Weaker-than-expected US jobs data caused that most Southeast Asian stock markets strengthened today. Moreover, the rupiah also felt the positive impact. According to the Bloomberg Dollar Index, the rupiah had appreciated 0.54 percent to IDR 12,950 per US dollar by 15:17 pm local Jakarta time.

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  • Palm Oil Industry Update Malaysia and Indonesia

    Crude palm oil (CPO) shipments from Malaysia climbed 18 percent month-to-month (m/m) in March as firms rushed to export CPO ahead of the (re)introduction of a 4.5 percent CPO export tax in April. This export tax had been scrapped since September 2014 in an effort to boost global CPO demand and prices. A median suggests that CPO production in Malaysia rose 18 percent (m/m) to 1.32 million tons in March, which would mean that palm oil production in Malaysia rose for the first time in seven months.

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  • Pharmaceutical Company Merck Indonesia Plans Stock Split in 2015

    Indonesian pharmaceutical company Merck, controlled by German consumer healthcare Merck Holding GmbH, plans to conduct a stock split in 2015 in a move to boost liquidity as well as increase trading of the company’s shares. Merck is currently discussing the stock split plan with the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) and the Financial Services Authority (OJK). Bambang Nurcahyo, Finance Director at Merck, said that the ideal ratio for the split is 1:20. An extraordinary general meeting (to discuss the plan) will be held in mid-2015.

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  • Indonesia Investments' Newsletter of 5 April 2015 Released

    On 5 April 2015, Indonesia Investments released the latest edition of its newsletter. This free newsletter, which is sent to our subscribers once per week, contains the most important news stories from Indonesia that have been reported on our website in the last seven days. Most of the topics involve economic matters such as an analysis of March inflation, the new letter of credit (L/C) policy for key commodity exports, the appointment of Pertamina as operator of the Mahakam block, and more.

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