Indonesian Stocks & Rupiah Expected to Feel Heavy Pressure Today
Indonesian stocks are expected to feel heavy downward pressure on Monday (29/06) due to stalled talks between debt-ridden Greece and its international creditors. Indonesia’s benchmark stock index (Jakarta Composite Index) still needs to open but other Asian markets immediately plunged after opening. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.28 percent as the yen appreciates (investors are chasing safe haven assets), while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, the euro is depreciating heavily in Asian trading.
Concerns about a Greek default have heightened after talks collapsed, a referendum was announced and the country’s banking system will remain closed for at least a week in order to avert a run on banks (ATM machines will have a maximum limit of 60 euro per day for Greek citizens).
Uncertainty in Greece is in addition to the large selloff in Chinese stocks last week. This selloff was due to investors’ debt repayment needs. After having borrowed heavily to invest in stocks, they are now forced to repay brokers. Such selling may continue today despite China’s central bank having cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.85 percent on Saturday. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) also lowered the amount of capital that banks are required to hold in reserve for some lenders in an effort to free up money for new loans.
By 09:17 am local Jakarta time the Indonesian rupiah had depreciated 0.30 percent to IDR 13,347 per US dollar according to the Bloomberg Dollar Index.