Dollar sentiment drives shares lower

Dollar sentiment drives shares lower

JAKARTA (JP): Uneasiness over the U.S. dollar continued to weaken the regional sentiment, driving share prices lower across the board on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) last week.

The JSX Composite Index closed last week at 422.13, down 4.54 points from the week's opening of 426.67.

The market traded cautiously in an extremely narrow range. Its sideways direction has been due to the support provided by local punters, speculating on low priced and liquid counters, many in the property sector.

Trading volume continued to be low, indicating a weak support and lack of steam for a firm reversal.

Over the short term, sentiment is likely to remain fragile with the uncertainty in the global monetary condition. The Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow will decide on the possibility of another interest rate hike. While another rate raise will damage the market, the alternative of not raising interest rate is expected to further weaken confidence on the U.S. dollar.

Domestic player activities were moderate and concentrated mainly on second liner stocks. Counters which were actively traded by domestic players included BDNI, Barito Pacific, Lippo Land, Duta Anggada, Pakuwon Jati, PSP and Dharmala Intiland.

Foreign players were buying up blue chip stocks at the end of the week. Counters which saw active trading by foreigners included Astra Int'l, HM Sampoerna, Indosat, Indofood, BDNI, Lippo Bank, BII, Lippo Land, Gadjah Tunggal, PSP, Duta Anggada, Tjiwi Kimia and Jababeka.

Average daily turnover on the regular board decreased to 10.19 million shares worth Rp 30.56 billion (US$13.78 million) last week from 11.43 million shares worth Rp 36.71 billion in the previous week, while last week's total turnover decreased to 89.24 million shares valued at Rp 313.32 billion from 99.04 million shares valued at Rp 324.77 billion in the previous week.

Some of last week's best performers were Bank Bali (up Rp 950), Indorama (up Rp 525), Bakrie & Brothers (up Rp 500), Sekar Laut (up Rp 450) and Lippo Bank (up Rp 375). The biggest losers were Bank Niaga (down Rp 1,500), Bank Surya (down Rp 1,200), Mayora (down Rp 600), Ciputra Development (down Rp 450) and Ades Alfindo (down Rp 425). Losers outnumbered gainers by 88 to 26, while 24 remained unchanged.

-- Sigma Batara