IDR falters to Rp15,465/USD today due to COVID-19. (Image via Bisnis Tempo.co)

IDR retreats to Rp15,465/USD

On Friday’s foreign exchange (forex) spot market opening, Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) is seen at Rp15,465 against the U.S Dollar (USD). The rate weakened by 50 basis points or 0.32 percent compared to Thursday’s closing rate at Rp15,415/USD. For today, IDR is moving around Rp15,380 - Rp15,600/USD.

Today, the majority of currencies of Asia – ASEAN countries weakened against the USD. Reportedly, S. Korean Won (KRW) went down by 0.56 percent, Thai Baht (THB) by 0.25 percent, Singaporean Dollar (SGD) by 0.2 percent, Chinese Yuan (RMB) by 0.19 percent, Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) by 0.12 percent, Philippines Peso (PHP) by 0.05 percent, and the Japanese Yen (JPY) by 0.04 percent.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) remains stagnant against the USD.

On the other side of the world, the majority of currencies of the developed countries also weakened. The Australian Dollar (AUD) went down by 0.23 percent, European Union Euro (EUR) by 0.09 percent, Swiss Franc (CHF) by 0.08 percent, and the Canadian Dollar (CAD) by 0.03 percent.

Only Great Britain Pound sterling (GBP) strengthened by 0.01 percent against the USD, while the Russian Ruble (RUB) remains stagnant.

Indonesian forex analyst stated that IDR’s weakening came from the negative sentiment on the leak of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s report that the clinical trial of the cure for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) failed. Thus, the finance market was rattled.

In other words, COVID-19 might stick with the world for some time. Meanwhile, the latest economic data in some countries keep slumping because of COVID-19. For instance, manufacturing indexes in Europe and the U.S are contracted.

The number of jobless in the U.S also increased by 4.4 million to 26.4 million.

Source: https://bit.ly/3ePwgkU