Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian rupiah strengthened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank market on Thursday morning on the back of the US government's massive stimulus package to address the rapidly intensifying coronavirus crisis.
By 9:46 a.m. local time, the rupiah surged 207 points, or 1.26 percent, to Rp16,233, from Rp16,500 per US dollar earlier.
The money market is awaiting the US Congress' approval of the stimulus package, Monex Investindo Futures chief research Ariston stated.
"If it is approved, it will push risk assets, including the rupiah, to strengthen today," he noted.
The money market continues to harbor concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak that may slow down global economic growth and eventually exert additional pressure on risk assets on Thursday, he remarked.
"The rupiah will potentially strengthen at Rp16,300 per US dollar today, with potential resistance at Rp16,575 per US dollar," he stated.
The US Senate is expected to approve a US$2 trillion relief package on Wednesday night to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 after days of tough negotiations between the Republican and Democratic Parties.
Leaders of the White House and the Senate agreed to a large-scale stimulus package on Wednesday morning, aimed at offering to jolt the economy reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US has reached some 60 thousand as of 14:30 US Eastern Time on Wednesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering of Johns Hopkins University.
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