Rupiah weakens due to conflict between Ansarullah and Saudi Arabia

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar weakened by 3<0xA0>35 points, or 0.20 per cent, to Rp17,917 per US dollar at the close of trading on Monday, compared to the previous close of Rp17,882 per US dollar.

Currency analyst and Director of Forexindo Berjangka, Ibrahim Assuabi, stated that the rupiah’s weakness was influenced by the conflict between Ansarullah in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

“The internationally recognised Yemeni government, supported by Saudi Arabia, has announced it will launch a large-scale military operation to reclaim all territories controlled by the group,” he said in a written statement in Jakarta on Monday.

Previously, the Ansarullah group in Yemen launched ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) at Saudi Aramco facilities in Riyadh and the Khurais region, in response to Saudi-led attacks in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has not yet confirmed these attacks, triggering concerns regarding production in the region’s major exporting nation.

“They claim the attacks caused massive fires and were a response to what they described as 50 Saudi-led airstrikes and missile attacks in Yemen over the last 12 hours,” Ibrahim revealed.

Investors are also awaiting US economic agendas, which include the ISM Services PMI data, weekly employment data, the release of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, and consumer sentiment data from the University of Michigan.

The Bank Indonesia Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR) moved to the level of Rp17,917 per US dollar today, from the previous level of Rp17,898 per US dollar.