USD/IDR: Rupiah uninspired by upbeat Indonesian trade data

According to the latest trade data published by the Indonesian Statistics Bureau, the country unexpectedly posted a trade surplus in August.

Indonesia reported a trade surplus of $0.085 billion vs. $-0.42 billion expected and $-0.06 billion previous. The imports and exports came in at -15.60% and -9.99% respectively vs. -18.12% and -11.40% expectations and -15.21% and -5.12% respective priors.

The median forecast from 11 economists was for a $0.19 trade surplus last month, the Reuters poll showed last week.

Upbeat trade report fails to rescue the Indonesian Rupiah versus the US dollar, keeping the USD/IDR cross at the higher levels near 14,040. The pair hit two-day highs of 14,055 but stalled the upside after Bank Indonesia intervened in bond market to stem the sharp decline in the Rupiah.

USD/IDR Levels to watch