Stock prices up 1.2% on renewed optimism<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Stock prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX)
\nrose 1.2 percent yesterday in response to the election of
\nSoeharto and B.J. Habibie as president and vice president for the
\nnext five years, stockbrokers said.<\/p>\n
They said stock trading was not significantly influenced by
\ndemonstrations staged by students on several campuses across the
\ncountry yesterday demanding economic and political reforms.<\/p>\n
\"Though trading volume remained low, some local brokerage
\nhouses were making some big transactions, especially on selected
\nstocks,\" a broker with Trimegah Securities said.<\/p>\n
He said transactions were largely dominated by domestic
\ninvestors who believed that the country's political situation had
\nstarted to stabilize.<\/p>\n
Christina Lim of Harita Securities said local investors were
\nupbeat that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
\ngovernment would eventually reach a compromise over their ongoing
\nconflict on how to stabilize the beleaguered rupiah and mend the
\nwrecked economy.<\/p>\n
\"I think the government and the IMF will likely reach a
\ncompromise soon,\" she said pointing out that the plan to peg the
\nrupiah to a hard currency, most probably the U.S. dollar, would
\nstabilize the rupiah.<\/p>\n
Several brokers, however, said most foreign investors were
\nstill staying away from the local market as they could not
\ndiscern any clear government direction to improve the country's
\nailing economy.<\/p>\n
\"The market has not seen any clear indication on how the
\ngovernment plans to restore public confidence and bring the
\neconomy back to high growth,\" a broker with a joint-venture
\nsecurities house said.<\/p>\n
He added that most foreign brokerage houses like ING Barings,
\nMerrill Lynch, Indosuez WICarr, Credit Lyonnais and Jardine
\nFleming Nusantara made more selling transactions than buying
\norders.<\/p>\n
The JSX Composite Index rose 6.31 points to 498.18 points
\nyesterday from 491.87 the previous day.<\/p>\n
Trading volume totaled 480.86 million shares on the regular
\nmarket worth Rp 595.51 billion (US$56.71 million).<\/p>\n
Brokers said telecommunications stock Telkom gained ground
\nyesterday, rising Rp 50 to Rp 4,025 with 9.3 million shares
\ntraded on the regular market. Cigarette producer HM Sampoerna
\nalso rose Rp 175 to Rp 5,725 at a volume of 3 million shares.<\/p>\n
As stock prices climbed, the rupiah in the currency market
\nclosed lower at 10,500 against the U.S. dollar in moderate
\ntrading, currency dealers said.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's close was 2 percent lower than the previous day's
\nclose of 10,200.<\/p>\n
At the current value, the rupiah has lost more than 75 percent
\nof its value against the greenback since its pre-crisis rate last
\nJuly.<\/p>\n
Dealers said most operators did not make any big transactions
\nas they were waiting for government announcements on the new
\ncabinet and whether the rupiah would be pegged to the U.S. dollar
\nunder a currency board system.<\/p>\n
\"Trading volume remained thin as most operators did not want
\nto take any new positions,\" a local bank chief dealer said. (aly)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stock-prices-up-12-on-renewed-optimism-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}