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The Indonesian rupiah appreciated on Thursday, driven by a combination of global and domestic factors, most notably the delay in tariff policy implementation by U.S. President Donald Trump. According to Bank Woori Saudara analyst Rully Nova, the global market reacted positively to the decision, which helped strengthen the local currency.

“The rupiah is expected to close stronger today, within the range of IDR 16,775 to IDR 16,870, influenced by global factors—specifically President Trump’s delay in implementing tariffs,” Rully said in Jakarta, Thursday (April 10), as quoted by antaranews.com.

President Trump announced a 90-day postponement of tariff increases for over 75 countries that were previously facing higher import duties starting April 9, 2025. The proposed tariffs could have gone well beyond the base rate of 10 percent in some cases.

Trump explained that the postponement was granted because these countries had reached out to their U.S. counterparts to seek trade solutions, particularly concerning issues such as trade barriers, tariffs, currency manipulation, and non-tariff measures. He also emphasized that these nations had refrained from any form of retaliation against the United States.

Domestically, the rupiah also benefited from encouraging economic indicators. Indonesia’s inflation rate remained low at 1.03 percent year-on-year (YoY) in March 2025, strengthening market confidence. There is also growing anticipation of a rate cut by Bank Indonesia (BI) to support economic momentum.

“There is ample room for BI to cut interest rates, given the very low inflation. The main reason would be to maintain growth momentum and avoid economic stagnation,” Rully added.

In Thursday’s early trade, the rupiah opened stronger by 40 points or 0.24 percent at IDR 16,833 per U.S. dollar, up from IDR 16,873 in the previous session.

Rupiah Currency Transaction Data

Based on interbank transaction data, the rupiah opened at IDR 16,833 per dollar, reflecting a 0.24% gain. In the spot market, the local currency began trading 0.3% stronger at IDR 16,815 per dollar. By 10:30 a.m. Jakarta time, the rupiah had appreciated further to IDR 16,770 per U.S. dollar.

The currency’s gains were closely tied to investor optimism over Trump’s decision to delay the tariff hike for 90 days, benefiting most of the U.S.’s trading partners—excluding China. During this period, imports from these countries would revert to the previous 10% rate, while Chinese goods would still face a steep 125% tariff.

The decision revitalized global financial markets, including the foreign exchange (forex) sector, with most Asian currencies opening stronger in Thursday’s session.

Besides the rupiah, other Asian currencies that appreciated against the dollar included the South Korean won (+1.02%), Thai baht (+0.97%), Japanese yen (+0.58%), Taiwan dollar (+0.46%), Malaysian ringgit (+0.35%), Philippine peso (+0.24%), and Hong Kong dollar (+0.01%).

However, some currencies weakened, such as the offshore yuan (-0.25%), Singapore dollar (-0.19%), and Chinese yuan (-0.03%).

For today’s trading outlook, analysts expect the rupiah to continue strengthening against the greenback, trading between IDR 16,695 and IDR 16,800 per U.S. dollar.

Source: antaranews.com, brief.id

Photo Credit: Mufid Majnun (unsplash.com)

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