Indonesian Shares End Lower, Led By Selling In Astra Intl
Indonesian Shares End Lower, Led By Selling In Astra Intl
Indonesian shares ended lower on Thursday, led by selling of car maker Astra International on concerns of a possible drop in sales, while higher oil prices hurt overall sentiment, dealers said.
Lingering worries over rising domestic interest rates and weak rupiah also kept sentiment very weak, they said.
"Many investors sold on fears higher oil prices could affect the nation's economy as a whole," said a trader with a foreign securities firm.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange's Composite Index ended down 9.409 points, or 0.8 percent , at 1108.403.
Decliners led gainers 92 to 30, with 59 stocks unchanged. Volume was 1.4 billion shares valued at Rp 1.2 trillion, compared with one billion shares valued at Rp 781 billion on Wednesday.
Astra International dropped 3.9 percent to Rp 12,200 on worries that rising interest rates could discourage consumers from buying cars on credit, and the weaker rupiah could increase the cost of imported raw materials.
"These two factors could hurt Astra's sales," said a trader with Paramitra Securities. He said more expensive imported raw materials may force Astra to increase the prices of its cars and motorcycles.
Benchmark one-month Bank Indonesia notes rose Wednesday to 8.44 percent from 8.25 percent previously.
Bank Danamon lost 3.9 percent to end at Rp 5,050, while Bank Mandiri ended down 0.7 percent at Rp 1,480 and Bank Central Asia lost 1.4 percent to Rp 3,475.
Also lower were shares in Indonesian Satellite, which lost 2.8 percent to close the session at Rp 5,300, on worries the weaker rupiah could the company's debt services. Indosat has sizable dollar-denominated debts.
Dealers said they expect the market to trade Lower Friday on further selling of bank stocks.
The Indonesian rupiah was steady on Thursday, ending off an earlier low on suspected intervention by the central bank, dealers said.
The dollar closed at Rp 9,795, barely changed from Rp 9,790 on Wednesday. The rupiah hit an intraday low of 9,834.
The dollar will likely trade in a range of Rp 9,750 to Rp 9,850 on Friday, dealers said. -- Dow Jones