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.