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.