Indonesian Stocks & Rupiah Fall: Weak Start of the Week
Indonesian stocks and the rupiah had a bad start on Monday morning. By 09.35 am local Jakarta time, Indonesia’s benchmark Jakarta Composite Index had fallen 0.99 percent to 4,371.49 points, while the rupiah had depreciated by 0.45 percent to IDR 14,236 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index).
Most Asian markets are down on Monday morning. China’s Shanghai Composite Index opened higher after a two-day public holiday at the end of last week but quickly fell to red territory and is continuing its highly volatile behaviour. Concern about China persists after China’s National Bureau of Statistics revised down the country’s 2014 gross domestic product growth (GDP) from 7.4 percent (y/y) to 7.3 percent (y/y) on Monday. China’s Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said the country’s GDP growth could remain near an annual 7 percent for the next four to five years, the slowest pace of expansion in 25 years.
Last week Friday (04/09), European and US markets finished lower as investors did not know how to respond to the US government's monthly jobs. In August, US unemployment fell to a seven-year low (which is decent enough to support calls for a US interest rate hike). However, it was also announced that US employers added fewer jobs than previously forecast. This gave investors few clues about a US interest rate hike. Disappointing German manufacturing data added downward pressure on European stocks. On 16-17 September 2015, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to have its two-day policy meeting to discuss monetary policy.
At the start of this week, Indonesia’s central bank (Bank Indonesia) will announce the foreign exchange reserves level. As Bank Indonesia has been intervening heavily in markets over the past couple of weeks, the figure may have declined sharply and could add more negative sentiments.