USD/IDR surges to record high beyond 17,100 amid coronavirus outbreak

• USD/IDR registers a six-day winning streak to refresh the record high.
• Coronavirus cases in Indonesia surge beyond 500, police called on the public to avid gatherings.
• IDX fails to carry Friday’s recovery moves, drops over 3.0%.
• BI announced a second rate cut of 2020 on Thursday, cuts 2020 growth forecast.

Despite stepping back from the intra-day high of 17,154, also the record top, USD/IDR registers 4.5% gains while taking the bids to 16,822 during early Monday. The pair recently surged on the coronavirus fears while depleting stocks and the Bank Indonesia’s (BI) rate cut on Thursday also contribute to the Indonesian rupiah’s weakness.

Indonesia reported 64 new coronavirus cases and 10 new deaths, a health ministry official told reporters on Sunday, bringing the total number to 514 and 48 respectively, per Reuters.

While BI’s second rate cut in the year 2020 was among the measures taken by the Asian policymakers to ward off the negative implications of the virus, Bloomberg cites police calling the public to avoid gatherings.

The Indonesian government is under fire from the global policymakers as well as media after paying a little less attention to the pandemic.

Over the counter, the US Senate failed to pass the Trump administration’s COVID-19 Bill while the latest numbers from the US and Italy are also worrisome.

Risk-tone remains heavy with the US 10-year treasury yields down 10 basis points (bps) to 0.832% with Indonesia’s IDX down 3.36% by the press time.

Looking forward, investors will pay attention to the US bill as well as coronavirus updates for fresh impulse.

Technical Analysis

Unless declining below October 2018 top surrounding 15,265, the bears are less likely to enter.