Indonesian rupiah firms ahead of central bank decision; Asian stocks climb

The Indonesia's rupiah firmed in line with regional peers on Thursday, on hopes the central bank will stand pat on rates to support the country through its worst COVID-19 outbreak yet.

The Singapore dollar, South Korea's won and the Taiwanese dollar gained 0.2% against a subdued greenback as risk appetite rebounded with strong earnings lifting Wall Street stocks overnight.

The rupiah firmed 0.2% amid expectations the Bank Indonesia (BI) will keep its key interest rate at a record low of 3.50%, where it has been since February. The BI's two-day policy meeting ends later in the day.

Local stocks jumped 1.2%, led by banking shares.

Indonesia's rupiah leads Asian currencies lower; equities broadly up

The rupiah has weakened 2.5% over the past six-weeks since the COVID-19 situation in the heavily-populated Indonesia worsened amid slow vaccination and a creaky healthcare system.

Indonesia's total case load is near 3 million, with daily deaths touching a record high. Officials have extended movement curbs in parts of the country till July 25, hurting economic activity in a number of sectors.

"With the country hard hit by a surge in COVID-19 infections, monetary authorities will likely provide support for as long as possible, although additional rate cuts are likely off the table given the recent pressure on the rupiah," Nicholas Mapa, a senior ING economist, wrote in a note.

"The central bank may resort to other programmes to help jumpstart bank lending such as incentives for loans to particular sectors of the economy," he added.

Asian equities tracked their global counterparts higher with analysts pegging the gains on "buy the dip" behaviour and positive sentiment from the US markets.

Most stock indexes in the region like in India, Malaysia and Thailand have declined on a month-to-date basis as concerns over a Delta variant-led spike in COVID-19 infections and lockdowns worried investors.

The Philippine stock index was up 1.5% on Thursday after four sessions of heavy losses, while Singapore and South Korea equities rose more than 1% each.