Indonesia: Rupiah strengthens, JCI sees gains as BI cuts rate

• Jul 19, 2019

The rupiah strengthened to Rp 13,904 per US dollar at 12:53 p.m. on Friday,  having strengthened 0.40 percent from the previous day, according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, according to the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR), the rupiah exchange rate stood at Rp 13,913 per dollar on Friday. 

The rupiah’s appreciation follows Bank Indonesia’s decision to cut its key interest rate by 25 basic points (bps) on Thursday. It was also supported by external factors, particularly signals that the US Federal Reserve may cut its key rate sometime this year.

Other Asian currencies such as the South Korean won, the Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit and Thai baht also strengthened against the dollar on Friday.

BI’s decision  to cut the seven-day reverse repo rate also positively affected the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), as the Jakarta Composite Index increased by 0.65 percent or 41.84 bps to 6,445.13 during the first trading session on Friday.

As many as 205 shares strengthened,  while 147 shares weakened and 153 shares were unchanged. Total trade volume stood at 12.49 billion, with total transactions reaching Rp 5.11 trillion. Nine of the 10 sectorial indexes supported the JCI, with consumer goods showing the strongest increase (1.17 percent).

The three top gainers in the first session were PT Media Nusantara Citra (4.40 percent) to Rp 1,425, PT Charoen Pokphand (4.29 percent) to Rp 5,475 and PT AKR Corporindo (2.88 percent) to Rp 4,290.

Meanwhile, the three top losers were PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper (1.77 percent down) to Rp 8,325, PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (0.95 percent down) to Rp 2,080 and PT Barito Pacific (0.81 percent down) to Rp 3,660. (bbn)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/07/19/rupiah-strengthens-jci-sees-gains-as-bi-cuts-rate.html