Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) is halted by the Fed's decision. (Image via Market Bisnis)

The Fed halts IDR's growth at Rp13,635/USD

On Thursday’s foreign exchange (forex) spot market opening, Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) is seen at Rp13,634 against the U.S Dollar (USD). The rate weakened slightly by 0.01 percent compared to Wednesday’s closing rate at Rp13,634/USD. For today, IDR is expected to move around Rp13,600 - Rp13,650/USD.

Sharing the same fate as IDR, the majority of currencies in the Asia – ASEAN regions also withered against the USD. Reportedly, S. Korean Won (KRW) weakened by 0.54 percent, Thai Baht (THB) by 0.31 percent, and New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) weakened by 0.25 percent.

Furthermore, Singaporean Dollar (SGD) weakened by 0.18 percent, Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) by 0.12 percent, Turkish Lira (TRY) by 0.03 percent, and the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) slightly weakened by 0.01 percent.

Only the Japanese Yen (JPY) strengthened against the USD by 0.04 percent.

On the other hand, the currencies in the developed countries region reacted variously against the USD. Both Great Britain Pound sterling (GBP) and European Union Euro (EUR) strengthened by 0.01 percent and 0.03 percent.

Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar (AUD) and the Canadian Dollar (CAD) weakened by 0.16 percent and 0.03 percent against the USD.

Indonesian forex experts, nonetheless, assured that the weakening of IDR is only temporary. Instead, they estimated the IDR to strengthen today awaiting the sentiment by the U.S central bank, the Federal Reserve (the Fed), on early Thursday.

The Fed gave the signal that it will continue the funding to the market via repo like it did in early September 2019. The action was seen to suppress the interbank interest rate. The U.S obligation’s 10-year yield rate went down to 1.58 percent after the decision by the Fed.

However, the Indonesian forex experts warned about the danger of coronavirus to IDR’s rate.

Source: https://bit.ly/2U6a7qD