Indonesia shares end down on selling in banks
Indonesia shares end down on selling in banks
Agencies, Jakarta
Indonesian shares ended marginally lower on Tuesday as late selling in banking and cigarette blue chips reversed early gains, dealers said.
They said the decline could also reflect investor caution ahead of the announcement of the new Cabinet lineup Wednesday.
The Cabinet has been the subject of intense speculation in local media and is eagerly awaited by financial markets. Investors are keen to gauge President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to rooting out corruption and fixing the country's economic woes - two of his key campaign promises.
"For sure this Cabinet...will not please all the people," he said. "Please give the ministers a chance to fulfill their duties." He didn't elaborate.
After staying in positive territory for most of the session, the Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite index ended down 0.994 point, or 0.1 percent, at 853.393, down from an earlier high of 859.420.
Decliners led gainers 85 to 383, while 93 stocks are unchanged. Volume was 1.2 billion shares valued at Rp 943 billion.
Bank Mandiri, the nation's largest lender, ended down 1.7 percent at Rp 1,475 and Bank Danamon fell 0.7 percent, to Rp 3,650.
Cigarette maker Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna fell 1.7 percent to Rp 5,900 and its rival Gudang Garam ended down 0.4 percent at Rp 12,800.
However, gains in telecommunication blue chips prevented the main index from falling further.
Bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia rose 2.9 percent to Rp 4,400 on a rebound and after the company said it will issue Rp 1.5 trillion worth of medium-term notes to refinance its debt.
Indonesian Satellite Corp. also gained 2.9 percent to Rp 4,400 on bargain-hunting.
Dealers said they expect the market Wednesday to trade sideways, with many investors likely to stay on the sidelines as they await the new Cabinet announcement.
Meanwhile, the rupiah ended higher against the dollar Tuesday on suspected intervention by the central bank ahead of a Cabinet lineup announcement, dealers said.
The dollar closed at Rp 9,080, down from its close at 9,110 Monday.
The greenback had touched an intraday high of 9,130 on concerns that fuel subsidy costs in the state budget would surge due to rising oil prices.
"Bank Indonesia likely intervened via state banks to stabilize the rupiah ahead of the Cabinet lineup announcement," a dealer said.
Dealers said that the market will react positively if Yudhoyono names a market friendly economic team.
They expect the dollar to trade between 9,050 and 9,100 on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Japan, Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 issues gained 99.24 points, or 0.91 percent, to 11,064.86 points. In the previous seven sessions, the Nikkei had lost a total of 419.76 points, or 3.69 percent.
Tokyo shares got an early boost from strong earnings reports by U.S. companies Texas Instruments Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. as well as a rise in the U.S. Nasdaq composite index.