Rupiah, ringgit bounce up but fundamentals remain poor

Kuala Lumpur

THE rupiah and the ringgit headed for their best weekly gains since 2001 and 1998 respectively as Indonesia and Malaysia benefited from rallying share markets, rebounding commodity prices and signs the Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates this year.

The rupiah jumped 3.8 per cent to 13,371 a dollar as of 12.22pm in Jakarta, taking its advance this week to 9.5 per cent, prices from local banks show. The ringgit surged 2.9 per cent on Friday and 7.3 per cent since Oct 2 to 4.1165.

This week's rally came after the Malaysian and Indonesian currencies lost 14 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively, last quarter.…