Jakarta shares end lower on weak global sentiment<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular and Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
More profit-taking on selected blue chips brought the Jakarta
\nComposite Index down on Monday as global market sentiment was hit
\nby concern over the economic impact of the Madrid bombings.<\/p>\n
The share index dropped 14.001 points, or 1.9 percent, to
\nclose at 724.15, the lowest in two months, with
\ntelecommunications firm Telkom leading the fall in blue chips.
\nTelkom dropped Rp 500, or 6.7 percent, to Rp 6,700, accompanied
\nby Indosat, which lost its value by Rp 350, or 2.1 percent, to
\nclose at Rp 16,650.<\/p>\n
Monday's decline follows an earlier declining trend, which saw
\nthe Jakarta stock index drop by 4.5 percent since last Wednesday,
\nthe day before election campaigning started.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the index closed at 760.32 points.<\/p>\n
Political campaigns for the legislative election are taking
\nplace from March 11 to April 1. The election will be held on
\nApril 5, when more than 147 million voters will choose the new
\nmembers of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
However, BNI stock analyst Fendi Susiyanto told The Jakarta
\nPost that the negative sentiment had been caused by the bomb
\nattacks on Spain and its impact on the global economy, rather
\nthan by ongoing political campaigning.<\/p>\n
\"The election is no longer the primary factor. The drop was
\nmore because of panic-selling of blue chips by foreign investors,
\nfollowing claims by al-Qaeda that it was responsible for the
\nattacks,\" Fendi said.<\/p>\n
Unless the campaigns turned violent, he added, the political
\nevent would provide little concern in the stock market.<\/p>\n
A powerful blast rocked Spain's capital city during the rush
\nhour on Thursday, with official casualties reaching 200 I think
\nit is now 201, so \"just over 200\" is better.<\/p>\n
On the currency market, the rupiah, benefiting from the
\nrelatively peaceful progress of the campaigns thus far, closed
\nslightly stronger on Monday against the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
The local unit ended at 8,638 per dollar, as against 8,650 on
\nFriday, as fears regarding possible violence during the campaign
\nhave started to subside.<\/p>\n
Late last week, foreign market players allegedly bought the
\ndollar on concern that campaigning could turn violent.<\/p>\n
Turning to the stock market, Fendi said the index could drop
\nfurther toward the 700 level, especially if nothing fresh boosted
\nthe market in the near future.<\/p>\n
However, he said, the downfall would be temporary, as the
\nindex could bounce back in the longer term on favorable
\nmacroeconomic conditions, including a further fall in Bank
\nIndonesia benchmark interest rate or good performance posted by
\nthe country's top shares.<\/p>\n
This was quite apart from the fact that shares in Indonesian
\ncompanies were still considered \"cheap\" as compared to those of
\ncompanies of the same caliber in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
In Monday's trading, decliners led gainers 72 to 34 while 79
\nothers were unchanged, with the volume traded reaching 1.14
\nbillion shares at a total value of Rp 669 billion.<\/p>\n
The country's top cigarette producers, Gudang Garam and
\nSampoerna, experienced mixed trading. While Gudang Garam fell by
\nRp 300 to Rp 12,000, rival Sampoerna gained Rp 50 to Rp 4,650.<\/p>\n
Bank Mandiri, the largest lender in the country, fell 1.8
\npercent or Rp 25 to Rp 1,357, while Astra International, the
\nnation's largest car maker, was also down Rp 50 at Rp 5,300.<\/p>",
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