Rupiah heads for biggest drop since 2011 to lead Asia declines

[KUALA LUMPUR] Indonesia's rupiah was poised for its biggest drop in five years after a rally in the dollar sapped demand for emerging-market assets.

The rupiah sank 2.6 per cent to 13,488 per dollar as of 8.43am in Jakarta, set for the biggest decline since September 2011, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It dropped as much as 3 per cent.

Developing-nation currencies tumbled after the prospect of increased spending under a Donald Trump administration propelled the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index to the highest since March on Thursday.

"There's thin liquidity and strong dollar sentiment," said Wu Mingze, a foreign-exchange trader in Singapore at INTL FCStone, a Nasdaq-listed global payments-service provider. "Emerging markets are going full crazy at the moment. It's not central bank intervention or any major news."

BLOOMBERG