Jakarta shares down on profit taking
Jakarta shares down on profit taking
Dow Jones, Jakarta
Indonesian shares ended marginally lower on Thursday, taking a hit from profit-taking in Bank Mandiri and oil and gas producer Medco Energi as well as declines in most Asian markets, dealers said.
The weaker rupiah against the U.S dollar also hurt sentiment. The dollar closed at Rp 9,610, up from its Rp 9,585 on Wednesday close on dollar demand from importers and the U.S. currency's strength against other regional currencies, dealers said.
"The market ran out of steam after gains in the previous two sessions," said a trader with Paramitra Securities.
He said concerns over the nation's security following a small explosion outside a cleric's house on the outskirts of the capital yesterday also added to negative sentiment.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite index fell 1.32 points, or 0.1 percent, to Rp 1,094.19.
Decliners led gainers 64 to 34, with 79 stocks unchanged. Volume was 848 million shares valued at Rp 715 billion, compared with 1.2 billion shares valued at Rp 899 billion on Wednesday. Bank Mandiri fell 0.7 percent to Rp 1,530 on profit-taking after gaining 2 percent on Wednesday.
Dealers also attributed the decline to expectations that the bank's 2005 earnings will be hit by higher non-performing loans. At the end of March, Bank Mandiri's net profit fell 70 percent on year due to higher loan provisions.
Medco fell 2.8 percent to Rp 3,425 on strong profit-taking after it jumped 4.4 percent on Wednesday ahead of its plan to sell a stake of around 40 percent through a secondary offering on the Luxembourg bourse in the second half of this year.
Among other decliners, bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia dropped 0.5 percent to Rp 4,700 after its American depositary receipts in New York fell 1.3 percent to $19.50 on Wednesday.
On the upside, a rebound in cigarette maker Gudang Garam prevented the main index from a deeper decline, dealers said.
Garam rose 1.7 percent to Rp 12,000 after the government said it will only raise the minimum retail price of cigarettes by 15 percent, compared with its initial plan of a 20 percent increase.
Dealers said they expect the market to decline Friday on continued profit-taking in select blue chips.
Meanwhile, rupiah closed lower on dollar demand from importers and the U.S. currency's rebound against other major currencies, dealers said.
The dollar closed at Rp 9,610, up from its close on Wednesday at Rp 9,585.
Dealers said that Bank Indonesia was suspected to have sold dollars to help ease the pressure on the rupiah, but the amount was likely small.
"Dollar supply from Bank Indonesia seemed to be small, and sporadic," a dealer at a local bank said.
Dealers expect the dollar to trade above Rp 9,600 on Friday as it has closed above the psychologically significant level.
"The greenback will likely trade between Rp 9,600 and Rp 9,625 tomorrow," a dealer with a foreign bank said.