Rupiah strengthens, stocks gain<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia gave a push to the rupiah
\nyesterday, which slipped to a record low of 6,000 against the
\nU.S. dollar, while local stock prices gained ground, currency
\ndealers and stockbrokers said.<\/p>\n
Dealers said the rupiah strengthened in the afternoon after
\nthe central bank stepped in. The spot rupiah closed at
\n5,450\/5,550 to the dollar, compared with an opening of
\n5,750\/5,900.<\/p>\n
Share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange also rose almost
\n4.7 percent on improving rupiah and government support for state-
\nrun blue-chip companies.<\/p>\n
Dealers said there was some resistance against the dollar
\nmoving up from the 6,000 level as some operators were nervous to
\nmaintain their long dollar position in the current volatile
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
\"Many foreign players sold dollars to take a profit,
\npreventing the rupiah from sliding further. They did not want to
\nbe trapped and be burned by the very undervalued rupiah,\" a local
\nprivate bank chief dealer said.<\/p>\n
He said Bank Indonesia moved in when the rupiah was already
\nrecovering from its worst dive ever yesterday, making some market
\nplayers nervous.<\/p>\n
\"I think, in this very unpredictable situation, anybody with
\nan open position will never have a good sleep until they get
\nsquared,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The central bank sold dollars when the rupiah was traded at
\nthe 5,700 level, pushing the currency up to the day's high of
\n5,400.<\/p>\n
\"Bank Indonesia intervened just once, with a small amount of
\ndollars, but it already stirred up the market. If it could do it
\nagain in a tactical way, I believe it could help the rupiah,\" the
\nchief dealer said.<\/p>\n
Much like neighboring Southeast Asian currencies, Indonesia's
\nrupiah has been falling for months. Its sharpest fall, however,
\ncame last week amid unfounded rumors that President Soeharto had
\nbecome seriously ill, suffered a mild stroke, or even died.<\/p>\n
Soeharto has been resting at home on doctors' advice since
\nDec. 5 after a long overseas trip. The government has constantly
\ndenied the rumors, and Soeharto himself has also appeared on
\ntelevision several times to assure the public he is fine.<\/p>\n
Dealers said the rupiah could weaken or strengthen sharply any
\ntime as the trading band was still large, at 100 to 200 rupiah.
\nThey said Bank Indonesia was likely to intervene more in the
\nmarket toward the year's end to shore up the rupiah.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange made
\nsome gains yesterday, with the composite price index closing up
\n16.84 points at 356.38 after a sharp fall of 7.2 percent on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Securities analysts said yesterday's rise in the local market
\nwas partly driven by state-owned securities houses' support for
\nundervalued state-owned stocks.<\/p>\n
\"I think it is just a technical rebound today (yesterday)
\nafter a sharp fall on Monday,\" a stockbroker with a local
\nsecurities company said.<\/p>\n
The broker also attributed yesterday's increase to market talk
\nthat the government would likely launch another deregulation
\npackage to boost the stock market by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
But most securities analysts said the overall mood remained
\nweak for the local market as concerns over the weakening rupiah
\nloomed, forcing most investors to stay on the sidelines of the
\nlocal stock and financial markets.<\/p>\n
\"Investors are still concerned about the President's health
\nand persistent fall of the rupiah,\" the head of research at
\nMashill Jaya securities, Tjandra Kartika, said.<\/p>\n
\"Though stock prices have been low and the main price index
\nhas declined sharply, investors are still waiting for the
\nrecovery of market confidence,\" added Christina Lim, managing
\ndirector of Harita Securities.<\/p>\n
She shared with many other analysts' argument that investors
\nwould likely enter the market again next year if market
\nconfidence was restored. (aly\/rid)<\/p>\n
Currencies, stocks -- Page 11<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rupiah-strengthens-stocks-gain-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }