Rupiah Down in Value Againts Dollar, Index Up

Jakarta (Antara) - The rupiah closed lower in value against the US dollar in interbank transaction on Wednesday amid minimum new positive domestic sentiment. The currency traded at the level of 11,215 per dollar losing value from the level of 11,174 earlier. On Tuesday rupiah gained significantly against the US dollar after positive Indonesian economic data published earlier this month. "However, minimum new positive sentiment weighed on the domestic financial market," chief researcher of Trust Securities, Reza Priyambada, said . Reza said the decision of Bank Indonesia (BI) to main its benchmark interest rate (BI rate) at 7.25 percent was not strong enough to shore up rupiah, although the decision was considered positive for Indonesia's macro economy. Samuel Sekuritas economist Rangga Cipta said rupiah tended to weaken both in domestic market and in "non delivery forward" (NDF). Meanwhile, the Jakarta index closed 24.93 points higher on Wednesday on expectation that Indonesia's inflation is under control. The index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) rose 0.56 percent to 4,457.44 points with the index of 45 most liquid stocks up 0.74 percent to 748.71 points. "The BEI index gained on market expectation that the country's inflation would be more under control and the BI rate would not change much from the present level of 7.25 percent," Panin Sekuritas' analyst Purwoko Sartono said. (*)