RUPIAH WEAKENS SIGNIFICANTLY AGAINST US DOLLAR

Jakarta, Nov. 30 (ANTARA) - The rupiah sharply weakened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interspot market here on Monday morning on profit taking moves.

The Indonesian currency traded Rp9,465-Rp9,475 per US dollar, down 85 points from Rp9,380-Rp9,395 per US dollar at the market's close last weekend.

Investors took profit after the rupiah had earlier strengthened to the level of below Rp9,400 per US dollar, Harry Kurniawan, a research analyst of PT makinta Securities, said here on Monday
The rupiah was also affected by Wall Street losses which had put the Indonesian stock and money markets under pressure, .

Besides, investors closely followed the developments of the Bank Century controversy, Kurniawan, who is also a domestic money market observer, said.

The rupiah should have reached the level of around Rp9,300 per US dollar as the US greenback plunged in regional markets, he said.

However, the local unit was affected by various cases in the country as investors were worried that the problematic cases might slow down the national economic growth, he said.

He believed it would be hard for the local currency to approach the level of Rp9,300 per US dollar at the end of this year, as earlier predicted.
Meanwhile, the Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here on Monday morning went down 19.939 points or 0.79 percent to 2,375.747 points and the LQ-45 index plunged 3.715 points or 0.70 percent to 467.140 points.