The Indonesian rupiah touched its weakest level on record against the US dollar on Thursday, reaching 18,221 per dollar at 09.36 WIB, according to Bloomberg spot data. The rupiah had opened at 18,149 and was already weaker than the previous close of 18,173, a slide of 24 points, or 0.13 percent.
Analysts pointed to a stronger dollar after several Fed officials took a hawkish stance. Some of them have begun to raise the possibility of a 50 basis point rate hike at the December meeting.
Foreign flows and index review
Lukman Leong, an analyst at Doo Financial, said the rupiah’s weakness was accompanied by a strengthening dollar. He also flagged a second risk: MSCI review results released the same day were worse than expected.
If those results again trigger foreign selling, Leong said, this could weigh further on the rupiah.
Related: Rupiah hits record low of Rp18,175 per dollar · Rupiah opens weaker at 18,102 per dollar after US jobs data
