Rupiah is not powered. Thursday (27/2), the rupiah on the spot market weakened and returned to above Rp 14,025 per US dollar (US). That is, today's rupiah weakened 0.61% compared to Wednesday's closing (2/26) at 13,940 per US dollar. This also makes the Garuda currency has weakened for eight consecutive days.
Negative sentiment for the Garuda currency still comes from the impact of the spread of the coronavirus outside China. Besides developing in South Korea, Italy and Iran, now the coronavirus has also reached the Americas. After the US and Brazil confirmed new cases of the coronavirus.
"The US confirmed the possibility of the spread of the first community of the coronavirus in the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said a patient in California who had no travel history was infected with the coronavirus," explained Director of TRFX Garuda Futures Ibrahim, Thursday (27/2) ).
Besides, the Bank of Korea uselessly chose to maintain interest rates even though the number of cases of the coronavirus in South Korea exploded reaching 1,595 cases.
On the other hand, although there are no cases of coronavirus in Indonesia, the Indonesian economy is predicted to be hit. Bank Indonesia (BI) predicts economic growth in the first quarter of 2020 is below 5%.
It is Estimated That The Rupiah Will Continue to Weaken
"Today, BI is also seen to intervene in the forex and bond markets in DNDF trading," Ibrahim continued. But this intervention was unable to make the rupiah powered. Therefore, Ibrahim estimated, in Friday's trade (28/2), the rupiah was still weakening in the range of Rp 13,960-Rp 14,060 per US dollar.
Also, the weakening of the rupiah today is the biggest among other currencies in the region. Given the majority of currencies in Asia are in the green zone.
Besides the rupiah, the Korean won also edged down 0.02%. Following, the Hong Kong dollar fell 0.01%. Meanwhile, the Malaysian ringgit became the currency with the biggest gain of 0.52%. Following, Philippine pesos were up 0.50%.
Then, the Thai baht appreciated 0.38%. Then there is the Japanese yen and Taiwan dollar, which rose 0.33% and 0.30% respectively. The Singapore dollar was raised at 0.22%. Chinese Yuan and Indian rupees also appreciated 0.15% and 0.03% respectively.
The exchange rate of the rupiah was getting worse in trading on Friday (2/28), weakening for nine consecutive days. Quoting Bloomberg at 9.20 WIB, the rupiah market spot to the level of 14,090 per US dollar, down 0.46% from yesterday's trading close.
Rupiah Not Successfully Rising
Global Investama Capital Analyst Alwi Assegaf projected that today's rupiah will weaken again in line with the spread of the coronavirus which has not shown signs of abating.
"Indeed, it still tends to weaken. However, the weakening of the rupiah may be muted as long as Bank Indonesia (BI) acts to stabilize the exchange rate by intervening, "Alwi told Kontan.co.id, Thursday (27/2) yesterday. Alwi calculated that the rupiah would weaken and move in the range of Rp 13,960 per US dollar - Rp 14,110 per US dollar.
While Head of Economics Research Pefindo Fikri C Permana sees that the rupiah has an opportunity to appreciate it. He sees the rupiah will be able to strengthen slightly in the range of Rp 13,950 per US dollar to Rp 14,080 per US dollar.
"Coronavirus will still be a depressing sentiment, but the main strengthening factor comes from the movement of the dollar index which has begun to be restrained. This is in line with risks in the US economy itself, "concluded Fikri.
The rupiah exchange rate has not yet been able to rise and is undergoing correction. Quoting Bloomberg, Thursday (27/2), the rupiah in the spot market closed lower to the level of Rp 14,025 per US dollar (US).
