Rupiah, stocks end higher<\/p>\n
Dow Jones
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The rupiah ended slightly higher against the U.S. dollar in thin
\ntrading on Friday, taking its cue from regional currencies,
\ndealers said.<\/p>\n
The local unit closed at Rp 8,525 per dollar, up from 8,550 in
\nthe previous day.<\/p>\n
The government's 2004 budget proposal announced earlier Friday
\nwas largely ignored as most of the details have already been
\ndisclosed.<\/p>\n
Instead, most interbank market participants held back from
\ntrading amid lingering concerns over possible fresh terrorist
\nattacks during the weekend following last week's bombing outside
\nthe J.W. Marriott Hotel, which killed at least 12 people.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's police and some countries, including Australia and
\nthe U.S., have warned of further attacks in the run-up of
\nIndonesia's 58th anniversary celebration on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Trading will be closed also on Monday for a public holiday.<\/p>\n
The government also touched on policies it promised to
\nimplement after it ends the International Monetary Fund-led
\nbailout program at the end of this year, but dealers said the
\ndetails were, as usual, sketchy and therefore failed to excite
\nthe market.<\/p>\n
"It now all depends on whether the government will deliver its
\npromises or not," a dealer said.<\/p>\n
Dealers expect the rupiah to trade between 8,500 and 8,570
\nnext week if Indonesia survives the long weekend without any
\nfresh terrorist assault.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, shares also ended higher as investors continued to
\nbuy PT Telkom on news it will receive compensation for losing its
\nexclusive right to run fixed-line services, dealers said.<\/p>\n
The arrest of alleged terrorist Hambali also spurred buying,
\ndealers added. Hambali is al-Qaeda's purported chief
\nrepresentative in Southeast Asia and is believed to have planned
\nlast year's Oct. 12 bombings on the island of Bali.<\/p>\n
"Buying wasn't strong, though," said a trader with a European
\nbrokerage firm, adding that concerns about possible terrorist
\nattacks during the long weekend prevented investors from taking
\nstrong buying positions.<\/p>\n
Indonesian markets will be closed Monday for a holiday.<\/p>\n
The main index ended up 1.4 percent at 516.65.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rupiah-stocks-end-higher-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }