Indonesian shares down; profit-taking in Telkom and Indosat
Indonesian shares down; profit-taking in Telkom and Indosat
Dow Jones, Jakarta
Indonesian shares ended lower on Monday mainly on profit-
taking in Telekomunikasi Indonesia and Indonesian Satellite,
dealers said.
Overall sentiment was weak, they said, adding that many local
institutional funds started to take profit after the main index
ended at a record closing high on Thursday. Indonesian markets
were closed on Friday for a holiday.
"Selling, however, wasn't that heavy," said a trader at Kuo
Capital Securities. He added that program buying in other select
blue chips prevented the main index from sliding lower.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index ended down 5.030
points, or 0.5 percent, at 1030.717.
Decliners led gainers 74 to 35, with 73 stocks unchanged.
Volume was 1.3 billion shares valued at Rp 1.4 trillion,
compared with 2.55 billion shares valued at Rp 2.00 trillion on
Thursday.
Bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia fell 2 percent to Rp 4,850
and rival Indonesian Satellite dropped 1.6 percent to Rp 6,050
on profit-taking.
Profit taking also hit Bank Danamon, which fell 2.3 percent to
Rp 4,175, and gold and nickel producer Aneka Tambang, which ended
1.1 percent lower at Rp 1,770.
However, Bank Mandiri, the nation's largest lender by assets,
rose 1.6 percent to Rp 1,940 and cement maker Semen Gresik
gained 0.5 percent to Rp 18,800 on program buying.
Dealers said they expect the market to trade lower on Tuesday
on further profit-taking in telecommunication blue chips.
Indonesian rupiah closed slightly higher in range-bound
trading on Monday, thanks to the dollar's lingering global
weakness, dealers said.
The dollar closed at Rp 9,140, down from its close on
Thursday at Rp 9,160 on Thursday. It traded between Rp 9,135 and
Rp 9,155.
The local currency market was closed on Friday for a holiday.
Dealers said that offshore market participants were net dollar
sellers as they expect the dollar's weakness to persist ahead of
next month's G7 meeting in London.
Demand from local companies, however, helped trim the dollar's
losses against the local unit, dealers said.
"Local companies were net dollar buyers as they need the
currency to pay for offshore obligations at the end of the
month," a dealer said.
Corporate debt repayment and rising imports have slowed the
dollar's slide against the rupiah since the last quarter of 2004
despite strong capital inflows into the local stock market.
Dealers expect the dollar to trade between Rp 9,120 and
Rp 9,160 on Tuesday.