Rupiah, regional currencies barely unchanged, shares gain ground
The rupiah strengthened further on Thursday to the 13,000 level against the US dollar on the spot market as most Asian currencies traded inside a tight range ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting latter on Thursday.
Based on Bank Indonesia’s Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR), the rupiah gained 0.18 percent to end the day at Rp 13,986 per dollar from Rp 14,011 on Wednesday.
Financial markets were keenly awaiting the ECB's policy decision and assessment of global economic health, possibly opening the door for monetary easing, Reuters reported.
The Indian rupee, Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit barely changed. The South Korean won weakened as much as 0.2 percent after the country's military said that North Korea had fired two short-range missiles early on Thursday from its east coast, raising the temperature on the political front.
The Philippine peso tacked on up to 0.2 percent, making it the region's top gainer for the day.
Meanwhile, the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) and other price benchmarks in other Southeast Asian countries also slightly increased, except the Philippine stock index, which slipped 0.6 percent.
The JCI rose 0.2 percent to close at 6,401,while the main price indexes in Singapore and Thailand rose 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
In Indonesia, telcom and financial stocks were among the top gainers, with state-owned network services provider Telekomunikasi Indonesia and lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia rising 0.7 percent each. (hen)