Trump and Fed Sentiment Weighs on Rupiah, Falling to Rp 14,180/US$

The Indonesian Rupiah weakened against the US dollar in the spot market towards the end of the week. On Friday (August 2nd), the Rupiah depreciated by 0.45% to Rp 14,180 per US dollar. Bank Indonesia (BI) stated that US President Donald Trump's announcement regarding plans to increase import tariffs on China triggered market volatility, contributing to the Rupiah's weakening.

The Rupiah's weakening began in early August after the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve (The Fed), Jerome Powell, announced that they would not aggressively lower the benchmark interest rate. This disappointed market players who had expected the 25 bps interest rate cut in July to continue in the second half of 2019. The Rupiah then depreciated by 0.71% to Rp 14,166 per US dollar on Thursday (August 1st). Over the past week, the Rupiah has depreciated by 1.14% against the US dollar.

(Read Databoks: Ahead of The Fed's Decision, Rupiah Weakens)