Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The rupiah again weakened to Rp9,115 per dollar on Friday evening after the US economic data had pointed to slowdown, prompting investors to doubt about the prospects of the world`s largest economy.

The Indonesian currency traded at Rp9,115 per dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market on Friday evening, down 10 points from Rp9,105 the day before.

"The rupiah again weakened after the US economic data have raised doubt about strong recovery of the world`s largest economy," money market observer Johannes Ginting of Monex Investindo Futures said.

He said US personal consumption data tended to be flat for the third month in a row in January.

Meanwhile, other data showed signs of low growth in the US manufacturing sector in February, discouraging interest in risky assets and putting pressure on the rupiah, he said.

The rupiah again entered negative area due among others to the injection of huge funds by the European Central Bank (ECB), persistent fear of debt crisis, and fragile economies of Euro zone countries, he said.

"Manufacturing index is one of the main factors that burden the movement of the European economy nowadays," he said.

Another money market observer Rully Nova of Bank Perhimpunan Saudara said market players tended to avoid risky currencies as the US and European economies had shown no sign of improvement.

He said euro`s exchange rate was also weakening against the dollar and this was one of the factors putting the rupiah under pressure although the pressure was not significant. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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