http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/rupiah-drops-for-second-week-as-trade-gap-worsens-dollar-crunch/563857?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jgnewsletter
Rupiah Drops for Second Week as Trade Gap Worsens Dollar Crunch Yudith Ho | December 28, 2012 Indonesia’s rupiah fell for a second week on concern the local supply of dollars trails demand as exports are predicted to have dropped for an eighth month. Overseas sales declined 7 percent in November, while imports increased 7.2 percent, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg before data due Jan. 2. The monthly trade deficit will be $342 million, compared with $1.5 billion in October, a separate survey shows. Financial markets will be closed on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. “Rising imports and slowing exports result in scarce dollars onshore,” said Rully Nova, a currency analyst at Bank Himpunan Saudara 1906 in Jakarta. “Since it is the last day of trading, we expect Bank Indonesia to limit the rupiah’s losses and support it toward 9,600.” The rupiah dropped 0.2 percent this week to 9,675 per dollar as of 8:57 a.m. in Jakarta, prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg show. It declined 0.1 percent on Friday. The rupiah is the worst-performing currency this year among Asia’s 10 most-active excluding the yen, falling 6.3 percent. One-month implied volatility, a measure of expected moves in exchange rates used to price options, was steady at 5.7 percent, from 13.2 percent at the end of last year. It is poised for the biggest annual drop since 2009. The yield on the government’s 7 percent bonds due May 2022 was little changed on Friday and this week at 5.19 percent, prices from the Inter Dealer Market Association show. The yield fell 84 basis points, or 0.84 percentage point, in 2012, declining for a fourth year. Bloomberg [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
