During his state visit to India, Indonesian President Joko Widodo signed three memoranda of understanding. Widodo is on a three-day visit to India (12-13 December) and Iran (14 December) to meet political and corporate leaders and to enhance business and trade relations with the two countries. Indonesia's seventh president is accompanied by Darmin Nasution (Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs), Pratikno (State Secretary), and Thomas Lembong (Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board, or BKPM).

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The government of Indonesia plans to offer the Bontang fuel refinery project to Iran. This refinery, which is targeted to have a processing capacity of 300,000 barrels of oil per day, will be located in Bontang (East Kalimantan). I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmaja, Director General of Oil & Gas at Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, considers it a positive step to offer the Bontang refinery project to Iran as this nation has showed an interest to develop refineries abroad in a bid to boost its crude exports after international sanctions were lifted in January 2016.

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The spotlight is - as usual - on China today as the world's second-largest economy released various macroeconomic data and markets' reaction toward these data will determine where stocks are heading for today. Wall Street will not influence Asian markets because this US financial and investment community was closed for Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday. Meanwhile, the crude oil price remains low around USD $29 per barrel.

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Although most stock markets in Asia were still in red territory, extending Monday's plunge, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah managed to rebound on Tuesday (05/01). Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index rose 0.70 percent to 4,557.82 points. Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah appreciated 0.37 percent to IDR 13,892 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index). What happened on today's trading day and what explains the deviation between Indonesian assets and the general Asian trend?

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Contrary to expectations, Indonesian stocks and the rupiah had a weak start of the new year. On Monday (04/01) Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell 1.46 percent to 4,525.92 points, while the Indonesian rupiah depreciated 0.82 percent to IDR 13,943 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index). The performance of Indonesian stocks is in line with the performance of stocks around the globe. In China stock trading was even halted twice due to its plunging index. What happened today?

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The Jakarta Composite Index (Indonesia's benchmark stock index, abbreviated IHSG) made a positive start on Monday (25/11). Investors were confident amid today's rising indices throughout Asia, brought on by the record breaking Dow Jones Index on Wall Street at the end of last week. However, this market optimism failed to provide a significant boost to the IHSG as the Indonesian rupiah exchange rate continued its downward spiral. The IHSG was up 0.39 percent to 4,334.80 points at the end of Monday's trading day.

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