Rupiah Loses More Value

Jakarta, Aug 14 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian currency rupiah lost more of its value against the US dollar in trade on Tuesday after a slight weakening yesterday. Samuel Sekuritas analyst Lana Soelistianingsih said here on Tuesday the Japanese economy grew 1.4 percent on-year in the second quarter of this year, falling short of expectation of 2.3 percent. The currency weakened to the level of 9,475 from 9,465 in inter-bank trade on the Japanese and European economic growth not up expectation, she said. The Japanese economic slowdown followed weak demand from the European Union and yen strengthening resulting in export fall in volume and competitiveness, Lana said. Monex Investindo Futures analyst Ariston Tjendra said market players are still awaiting developments in the European Union this week . "They are awaiting step to be taken by the European Central Bank and the European leaders to cope with the European debt crisis," Ariston said. Data about market movers such as the result of the survey of German economic sentiments, Britain`s consumer price index, European GDP and retail sales and allowance claims in the United States could change the sentiments in money market, he said. Shrinking surplus of 20.8 percent in Chinese trade to US$25.1 billion convinced the market players that China would soon announce a stimulus to recover its economy.