SINGAPORE, Feb 20: The Indonesian rupiah hit a two-month low on Friday as the dollar held firm after solid U.S. jobs data, while the peso rose to two-week high when foreign investors piled into Philippines’ shares.
Financial markets in most Asian countries, including China and South Korea, were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. The rupiah eased as much as 0.2 percent to 12,865 per dollar, its weakest since Dec. 16. The currency pared some of its losses when the central bank was spotted intervening to support the currency, traders said.
The official Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, which the central bank introduced in 2013 to manage exchange rate fluctuations, was fixed at 12,849 rupiah per dollar, weaker than the previous session’s 12,804.
Five- and 10-year Indonesian government bond prices also fell.
The rupiah has been under pressure since Bank Indonesia on Tuesday unexpectedly cut interest rates. By contrast, the Philippine peso gained 0.1 percent to 44.175 per dollar, its strongest since Feb.6. Foreign investors bought a combined net 4.24 billion peso ($95.9 million) worth of Philippine stocks in the previous six consecutive sessions, according to the Philippine Stock Exchange data.
Philippine government bond prices advanced. The peso’s strength came even as the dollar broadly remained firm after data on Thursday showed U.S. initial claims for jobless benefits dropped 21,000, about twice as many as expected, underscoring solid growth in the U.S. labour market. (AGENCIES)
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