Indonesian ADRs drop on NYSE

Indonesian ADRs drop on NYSE

NEW YORK (Reuters): Indonesian ADRs -- American Depositary
Receipts -- plummeted on the New York Stock Exchange Friday as
the country's currency dropped on worries about the health of
President Soeharto.

"They're all down on Soeharto and the currency troubles," a
trader said.

Soeharto, 76, canceled a trip to this week's summit meeting of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on medical advice. He
also called off a visit to the grave of his wife.

Jakarta stocks fell almost 8 percent to a 52-month low Friday.
Indonesian is among East Asian countries roiled by worries about
its currency and financial stability.

Indonesian ADRs were clustered among the percentage-gain
losers on the New York Stock Exchange. Topping the list was
bellwether PT Telekom, which fell 2-12/16, or 22.3 percent, to 9-
9/16, a 12-month low.

Trade was heavy at almost 800,000 ADRs, almost four times
normal daily levels.

Indonesian Satellite Corp. (Indosat) was right behind Telekom.
The ADR was off 2-6/16 to 17-11/16, also a 12-month low, in very
heavy trade.

Asia Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd., a Singapore-based company with
operations in Indonesia, was down 1-1/8 to 10-3/8 in moderately
heavy trade.

The Indonesia Fund Inc. dropped 8/16 to 5-3/16, just off a 12-
month low.

Wall Street

Blue chip stocks on Wall Street lost many of the gains of the
previous week, largely because of concerns about the ongoing
financial crisis in Asia.

The Dow Jones index of leading industrials closed at 7,838.30
points Friday, a decline of 310.83 points, or 3.81 percent, from
the previous week.

Some 2.85 billion shares changed hands, against three billion
the week before.

The index of transportation stocks closed Friday at 3,236.81
compared to 3, 315.94 one week earlier. The utility stock index
closed at 261.49 against 259. 89.

As the end of the week approached traders felt encouraged to
unload their worst-performing stocks.

The inflated price of high-tech shares, relative to the
economic performance of those companies, led traders to re-
evaluate holding on to them, some analysts said.

Oracle Corporation was one of the companies whose stock nose-
dived, losing nearly 30 percent of its value on Wednesday after
posting disappointing earnings, with company officials
acknowledging that the Asian crisis was hurting sales.

The concern over the crisis overshadowed a drop in long-term
interest rates below 6 percent, their lowest level since January
1996.

The U.S. bond market continued to offer refuge from the Asian
crisis and was also buoyed by lower-than-expected retail sales in
November and an unexpected drop in production prices.

The average yield on 30 year Treasury bonds fell to 5.934
percent Friday from 6.09 percent the week before.

Among falling shares, IBM closed the week at 99-15/16 from
112-7/16, Compaq at 56-1/4 from 64-13/16, JP Morgan at 117-1/16
from 125-7/16, and Citicorp at 126-13/16 from 139-7/8.

Gainers included Lockheed Martin which closed at 98-9/16 from
96-1/16, Time Warner at 59-1/4 from 57-5/8 and Bristol-Myers at
96-15/16 from 96.