Foreigners boost trade activity

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta stock market rose for the fourth consecutive day yesterday as foreign buyers continued to enter the market.

Securities dealers said foreign investors made significant purchases of selected stocks.

"It seems that foreign investors are now more confident about political stability. Street rallies staged by the three political parties are still under control," one analyst said.

He said the upward trend would probably continue in the coming weeks "if the political atmosphere remains like today."

The JSX composite index ended 6.85 points firmer at 673.69 in trade worth Rp 599.74 billion (US$249.89 million).

Trade in big companies dominated with several blue chips rising significantly.

"It is the right time for investors to buy the stocks now, " the analyst said.

Telkom surged Rp 150 to Rp 3,850, Indosat rose Rp 100 to Rp 7,100, cigarette maker Sampoerna was up Rp 175 at Rp 10,000, while Gudang Garam added Rp 225 to Rp 10,550.

Lippo stocks were all up as Multipolar rose Rp 75 to Rp 1800 after announcing rights issue. Lippo Securities jumped Rp 50 to Rp 1,750, Lippo Bank rose Rp 25 to Rp 2,375 and Lippo Life gained Rp 25 to Rp 3,075.

Cocoa processor and edible oil maker Cahaya Kalbar climbed Rp 150 to Rp 2,825 on news it would soon buy the privately run PT Mintawi for about Rp 62 billion (US$25.83 million).

In the currency market, the rupiah was slightly weaker against the dollar in slow late trading.

Dealers said trading was pretty dull, probably because foreign players were focusing on the Thai baht which was hit by speculation of band widening rumors.

The dealer said operators shrugged off the central bank move to appreciate the rupiah by one point, widely expected after the dollar nosedived against the yen in overseas markets.

The central bank lowered its intervention band by one point to 2,407/2,599 and the conversion band also by one point to 2,407/2,455 on Friday.

Spot rupiah was at 2,429.0/29.5 at 0900 GMT, compared with an opening of 2,429.0/30.0. It rose to a high 2,427 earlier.