Rupiah, stocks rise on regional boost<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's rattled financial market showed
\nuncharacteristic stability on Monday despite reports of a large
\nstudent rally at the House of Representatives (DPR).<\/p>\n
The rupiah, which opened at 10,900 against the dollar, held
\nfirm all day due to an improvement in the region's financial
\nmarkets before closing at 10,850\/10,875.<\/p>\n
A student rally outside the DPR on Monday did not draw
\nsignificant market attention away from Malaysia's foreign
\nexchange capital control introduced last week.<\/p>\n
"The student demonstration didn't really pressure the rupiah,"
\none currency dealer said.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of student protesters tore down the gates in front of
\nthe DPR complex during their demonstration, in which they
\ndemanded President B.J. Habibie step down because he had
\nmishandled the country's economic crisis.<\/p>\n
As the students advanced from the gates into the compound,
\nhundreds of riot police blocked their way, forcing a standoff.<\/p>\n
Currency dealers, however, warned that if similar
\ndemonstrations continued to occur, the rupiah would fall against
\nthe American dollar.<\/p>\n
Stock prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) closed the
\nday 3.1 percent higher in moderate trading on the back of
\nimproved sentiment in other regional major equities markets.<\/p>\n
Stockbrokers said a strengthening yen and a bounce in equity
\nmarkets throughout Asia contributed to the local bourse's surge.<\/p>\n
"Monday's rise in stock prices was just a spillover from other
\nregional markets because confidence in the country's market has
\nyet to improve," said the associate director of Bahana
\nSecurities, Andre Cita.<\/p>\n
The JSX Composite Index closed 10.25 points firmer at 335.81
\non a total volume of 184.93 million shares valued at Rp 261.18
\nbillion (US$24.18 million).<\/p>\n
Gainers outpaced losers 61 to 22 with 78 shares remaining
\nunchanged.<\/p>\n
Andre said short-term oriented traders took the advantage of
\nthe regional uplift to buy cheap stocks with strong fundamentals
\nin the local bourse.<\/p>\n
"This helped the market rise slightly," he said.<\/p>\n
Stockbrokers said that foreign fund managers, who had long
\nstayed away from the local bourse, were not overly anxious about
\nthe student rally and recent labor protests demanding the
\ngovernment lower prices of basic commodities.<\/p>\n
Stockbrokers said, however, that although stock prices rose,
\ntrading activities in the local exchange remained thin as most
\nforeign investors remained absent from the local market.<\/p>\n
Most large capitalized stocks ended higher on Monday with
\nTelekom rising Rp 175 to Rp 2,275 on 6.04 million shares, Tambang
\nTimah by Rp 200 to Rp 4,600 on 442,000 shares and international
\nsatellite operator Indosat by Rp 600 to Rp 7,525 on 1.08 million
\nshares.<\/p>\n
Cigarettemaker HM Sampoerna also enjoyed an increase of Rp 175
\nto Rp 2,350 on 10.78 million shares, while rival Gudang Garam
\nrose Rp 200 to Rp 8,000 on 415,000 shares. (aly)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rupiah-stocks-rise-on-regional-boost-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}