USD/IDR Price News: Rupiah approaches $14,300 on firmer Indonesia Retail Sales

• USD/IDR extends Friday’s losses on firmer Indonesia Retail Sales for December.
• Easing tensions over Russia-Ukraine favor US stock futures, Asia-Pacific remain downbeat.
• Yields struggle amid mixed concerns over Fed’s March rate-hike.

USD/IDR remains on the back foot around $14,335, down 0.08% intraday, as Indonesia reports strong Retail Sales figures for December during early Monday. Adding to the bearish bias could be a ray of hope concerning the Russia-Ukraine issue.

That said, Indonesia's Retail Sales for December rose past 10.8% to 13.8% YoY in December, per the Bank Indonesia (BI) Survey.

The BI left monetary policy unchanged in the last week and the recently firmer economics from Indonesia help the rupiah (IDR) pair to attack the 200-DMA. Adding to the bearish bias is the latest news suggesting Ukraine’s request to Russia for a meeting in the next 48 hours, which in turn placates market fears of imminent war and tames the US dollar’s safe-haven demand.

Additionally, the CME FedWatch Tool suggests nearly 50-50 chances of the 50 basis points (bps) of Fed-rate-hike in March versus a 0.25% move. Previously, especially after the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) release, the market was almost certain of a higher boost to the rates. That said, the preliminary readings of the US Michigan Consumer Sentiment for February eased from 67.2 to 61.7 on Friday.

Amid these plays, the US 10-year Treasury yields lick their wounds around 1.95%, after shedding over 11 basis points (bps) the previous day. Further, the S&P 500 Futures print mild gains by the press time. However, stocks in the Asia-Pacific zone remain bearish at the latest.

Moving on, risk catalysts are likely to entertain USD/IDR traders ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Meeting Minutes.

Technical analysis

USD/IDR sellers attack the 200-DMA level surrounding $14,330 with eyes on the $14,300 threshold. It’s worth noting that the pair sellers keep reins until witnessing a clear upside break of $14,450.