Holiday to stall index upward trend<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Trading on the Jakarta stock market is expected to be slow
\nthis week ahead of religious festivities, putting a brake on last
\nweek's rising trend.<\/p>\n
\"The trend will be reversed amid thin trading volumes. This is
\ncommon every year when the long holidays draw near,\" Ferry
\nLatuhihin, a stock and currency analyst with Danareksa
\nSecurities, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.<\/p>\n
Investors would wait on the sidelines ahead of the long
\nholidays, starting with the Idul Fitri Muslim festival. The
\nJakarta Stock Exchange will be closed starting Thursday and will
\nresume trading on Dec. 11.<\/p>\n
The index has been steadily on the rise over the past weeks
\nthanks to good news from inside and outside the country, with the
\nindex closing at 390.42 points last Friday, or 2.4 percent higher
\nthan the previous week's close of 373.23.<\/p>\n
Daily trading volume averaged 357.68 million shares valued at
\nRp 350.13 billion (US$38.9 million) last week, compared with
\n592.2 million shares valued at Rp 282.9 billion the previous
\nweek.<\/p>\n
Domestically, the progress in the Bali bomb probe, coupled
\nwith relatively better macroeconomic fundamentals, as evidenced
\nby manageable inflation and a stable rupiah, have so far managed
\nto convince market players that the country is crawling back to
\nits feet from the slump that followed the Bali massacre.<\/p>\n
On the external front, the U.S. Federal Reserves' move to cut
\nkey interest rates to 41-year lows early in November buoyed up
\nWall Street. The Wall Street rally was followed by its regional
\npeers as hopes of a U.S. economic recovery ran high.<\/p>\n
\"The index's recent upward trend must be attributed to those
\nfactors. The (U.S.) rates cut, which drove Wall Street to rally
\nfor seven consecutive weeks, along with our country's sound
\nfundamentals and the Bali probe progress have all proved helpful
\nfor our index,\" Ferry said.<\/p>\n
\"So, although the market is expected to be slow in the near
\nfuture thanks to the holidays and other factors, in the long run
\nthe index still has a good chance of climbing towards the 400
\nlevel.\"<\/p>\n
Aside from the long holidays, another stock dealer said the
\nmarket would be lackluster this week as players were still
\nwaiting for the latest news on the government's plan to privatize
\nstate-owned telecommunications firm Indosat.<\/p>\n
The government has said it is committed to finalizing the sale
\nof a 42 percent stake in the country's second largest
\ntelecommunications company by year-end.<\/p>\n
As for the currency market, the rupiah will remain stable at
\naround 9,000 per dollar due to supply and demand equilibrium, a
\ncurrency dealer said.<\/p>\n
\"The rupiah will be moving in a relatively similar range to
\nlast week, that is, around 9,000, although there is still a
\nchance for the currency to slightly strengthen,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ferry shared this view, saying that the local unit would not
\nfluctuate wildly.<\/p>\n
\"There is no speculative trading these days. Trading is simply
\ntaking place on a real-demand basis. So, the rupiah is going to
\nbe stable this week,\" Ferry added.<\/p>\n
Last week, the rupiah closed at 8,975 against the U.S. dollar,
\na little stronger than 8,995 the week before.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/holiday-to-stall-index-upward-trend-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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