Rupiah remain weak, stocks edge downward<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah stayed weak at 14,000 against the
\nU.S. dollar yesterday, while stock prices inched down on
\nwidespread security concerns, dealers and stockbrokers said.<\/p>\n
Currency dealers said the rupiah fell to an intraday low of
\n14,200 against the dollar in early trade before ending at 14,000.
\nIt had closed Monday at 14,175, compared to 13,350 on Friday.<\/p>\n
They said the rupiah failed to strengthen due to concerns over
\nnews on sporadic looting across the country and Habibie's
\n\"controversial\" comments on the ethnic Chinese community in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"I think these are the two factors that are keeping the rupiah
\nweak against the dollar,\" a chief dealer with a local private
\nbank said.<\/p>\n
President Habibie said in an interview with The Washington
\nPost recently that the country's economy would survive even if
\nethnic Chinese entrepreneurs did not return to Indonesia because
\ntheir roles would be taken over by other Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Dealers said that such a statement would not help attract
\nforeign investors to put their funds in the country's battered
\nfinancial market.<\/p>\n
Although the ethnic Chinese account for a small minority of
\nthe country's 202 million people, they play a significant role in
\nthe country's economy.<\/p>\n
\"Some foreign investors were confused after reading the
\nstatement and some of them laughed at such a statement,\" the
\nchief dealer said.<\/p>\n
Dealers said that reports on sporadic looting in Surabaya,
\nEast Java, also deflated any positive sentiment on the rupiah as
\nforeign investors were in great fear over the country's security
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
Dealers also attributed the weak rupiah to the possibility of
\nrioting on Monday when thousands of supporters of Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty, are expected to attend a rally in Central Jakarta to
\ncommemorate the second anniversary of the Indonesian military's
\ntakeover of her headquarters on July 27, 1996.<\/p>\n
\"People are still worried over such security problems in
\nIndonesia,\" the dealer said while adding that the outlook for the
\nrupiah remained gloomy in the short term.<\/p>\n
Mirroring the negative sentiment on the rupiah, stock prices
\non the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) failed to sustain gains as
\nthe main composite index fell 0.44 points to 488.23 yesterday.<\/p>\n
Total turnover was 312.28 million shares on the regular market
\nvalued at Rp 468.74 billion (US$33.48 million).<\/p>\n
A broker with Trimegah Securindo Lestari said speculative
\nbuying in late trading on certain selected stocks like Aneka
\nTambang, HM Sampoerna and Davomas Abadi prevented the benchmark
\nindex falling further.<\/p>\n
The Trimegah broker said that massive buying on Aneka Tambang
\nwas triggered by its first-half net profit of Rp 251.8 billion
\nthis year compared to Rp 24 billion in the corresponding period
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
Its share price closed Rp 25 higher at Rp 2,750 on 38.06
\nmillion shares changing hands yesterday.<\/p>\n
Brokers said that large buying of cigarette maker PT HM
\nSampoerna was caused by the company's better-than-expected sales,
\nwhich totaled 12.6 billion cigarettes, in the first halt of this
\nyear. Its share price closed Rp 275 higher at Rp 3,100 on a total
\nturnover of 12.42 million shares.<\/p>\n
Head of research at Sigma Batara Securities Fadjar Limin
\nSutandi said the local market had been overbought after it had
\nmade gains over the past weeks.<\/p>\n
\"My prediction is that the market will not break the
\nresistance level of 490 points,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"But if it can break the resistance level, the index could
\ntouch the 510-point level and the market will be bullish,\" he
\nsaid. (aly)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rupiah-remain-weak-stocks-edge-downward-1447893297",
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