Rupiah opens at Rp 12,606 per dollar

JAKARTA. The rupiah interbank trade rate on Wednesday appreciated by 51 basis points to Rp 12,606 per US dollar from Rp 12,657 per dollar in earlier trade.

Woori Korindo Securities Indonesia head of research Reza Priyambada said the successful sale of government bonds amounting to Rp 16 trillion (US$1.26 billion) had helped strengthen the rupiah.

Reza added that the appreciation of the domestic currency was also supported by the market’s low sentiment toward Greece’s exit from the Eurozone.

Newly inaugurated Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is currently touring a number of countries in Europe to negotiate Greece’s debts. This move is seen by the market players as positive.

“It has created optimism among market players that we will not be seeing a new crisis in the future,” he explained.

In addition, Monex Investindo Futures head of research Ariston Tjendra said another factor that helped appreciate the rupiah Wednesday morning was a decline in US durable goods’ manufacturers’ shipments in December 2014 by 3.4 percent.

This data had weakened the dollar against most currencies, he said.