Jakarta shares end higher on debt relief talk expectations

Jakarta shares end higher on debt relief talk expectations

Dow Jones, Jakarta

Indonesian shares extended their gains on Friday to end at yet
another all-time closing high as expectations of debt relief
following the tsunami disaster continued to support sentiment on
the local bourse, dealers said.

Several countries have called for debt relief for nations
badly affected by the disaster.

Profit-taking, however, trimmed most of the gains after the
main index touched an intraday high of 1038.82 points.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index ended up 2.64
points, or 0.3 percent, at 1032.53 points.

Gainers led losers 85 to 57, with 73 stocks unchanged.

Volume stood at 2.6 billion shares valued at Rp 2.2 trillion.

Telecommunications stocks led the gains, with heavyweight
Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) rising 3 percent to Rp 5,125,
and its rival Indonesian Satellite Corp. (Indosat) gaining 2.4
percent to Rp 6,400.

Automotive concern Astra International gained 1 percent to
Rp 9,800 after an official said on Thursday that its car sales
rose 44 percent last year.

Cigarette maker Gudang Garam rose 3.3 percent to Rp 13,950.
However, its rival HM Sampoerna fell 2.1 percent to Rp 6,950 on
profit-taking.

Indofood, the world's largest instant noodle maker, dropped
1.2 percent to Rp 840 on news that it failed on Friday to get
consent from bondholders to buy back $280 million of 5-year bonds
issued by an overseas unit in 2002.

Bank shares were down as they are expected to be the hardest
hit among listed companies by the tsunami disaster. The central
bank has predicted that at least half of the Rp 4 trillion in
total bank loans in Aceh are irrecoverable.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia, which has the most extensive branch
network in the country, fell 4.4 percent to Rp 2,700, Bank
Mandiri fell 2.4 percent to Rp 2,000, and Bank Central Asia
dropped 4.1 percent to Rp 2,950.

Dealers expect profit-taking to emerge on Monday after this
week's total 3 percent gain.

In currency market, the rupiah closed higher on fresh tsnuami-
relief related inflows into the country, dealers said.

The local currency closed at Rp 9,285 per dollar, strengthened
from its close on Thursday at Rp 9,315.

"We detected an inflow of fresh funds into the market today
(Friday), which most likely were related for the humanitarian aid
to Aceh," a dealer said.

Indonesia's Aceh was among the worst hit by the killer waves
that destroyed Asia's southern coasts following a magnitude nine
undersea earthquake on Dec 26.

The U.N. had said earlier that nearly $4 billion has been
pledged to help the millions left homeless by the tsunami.

Several official lenders, including Japan, have called for a
debt relief for the affected nations.

Dealers said that the rupiah also benefited from capital
inflows into the local stock market, which gained over 3 percent
this week.

Dealers expect the rupiah to trade between Rp 9,260 and Rp
9,340 a dollar on Monday.