Indonesian Shares End Lower, Led By Selling In Telkom
Indonesian Shares End Lower, Led By Selling In Telkom
Dow Jones Jakarta
Indonesian shares ended lower on Wednesday, led by selling in Telekomunikasi Indonesia on worries its U.S.-listed shares could be suspended from trade if it fails to file 2004 earnings by the July 15 deadline.
"Falls in Telkom hurt overall sentiment and it spurred investors to sell other select blue chips," said a trader with Kuo Capital Securities.
Dealers said overall sentiment was weak, with a firmer rupiah failing to improve market confidence.
The rupiah ended higher at Rp 9,785, compared with Rp 9,870 at Tuesday's close after the government said it will directly provide state-owned oil company Pertamina with dollars to finance oil imports.
The dollar demand from Pertamina, which counts around 25 percent of daily market volume, had depressed the rupiah on the spot market.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange's Composite Index lost 13.356 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1117.812.
Decliners led gainers 83 to 29, with 59 stocks unchanged. Volume slipped to one billion shares valued at Rp 781 billion, compared with 1.1 billion shares valued at Rp 918 billion on Tuesday.
Telkom fell 3.9 percent to Rp 5,000 after the company said early this week that it asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to give it 15 more days to file its 2004 earnings report after missing the June 30 deadline to file its earnings report under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.
Telkom added that although it intends to make its earnings filing as early as possible, it may not be able to meet the new deadline. Analysts said Telkom's American Depositary Receipts may face suspension if the company fails to file the report by the new deadline.
Among other losers, Telkom's rival Indonesian Satellite dropped 2.7 percent to Rp 5,450 on profit-taking after recent gains on its plan to invest more to develop its cellular business this year.
Dealers said investors continued to sell bank blue chips on lingering worries that higher interest rates could reduce banks' net interest margin and bottom lines.
Bank Mandiri shed 0.7 percent to Rp 1,490, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 1.8 percent to Rp 1,650 and Bank Rakyat Indonesia fell 0.9 percent to Rp 2,900.
Profit-taking hit cement maker Semen Gresik, which lost 1.7 percent to Rp 19,850 after gains in the previous two sessions on improved first-half earnings due to rising local demand.
On the upside, gas and oil producer Medco Energi gained 2 percent to Rp 3,850 on expectations of improved first-half earnings due to rising oil prices.
Dealers said they expect shares to trade flat to slightly higher on Thursday on a rebound in telecommunication blue chips.