Jakarta stock index falls first time in five days
Jakarta stock index falls first time in five days
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Having risen by more than 4 percent in the past week, the Jakarta
stock index started to run out of steam and fell by 1.2 percent
on Thursday from the day before, due primarily to heavy profit-
taking, analysts said.
Excessive sell-offs in several bluechip stocks, notably those
of telecommunication firms and banks, which have enjoyed hefty
gains lately, pushed the index lower at 804.43 points.
The index was 9.78 points lower than the day before with
trading volume at 1.71 billion shares valued at Rp 790.6 billion
(about US$91 million).
Wednesday's close was at an all-time high, boosted by the
announcement of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Yusuf Kalla pairing
in the presidential race, dubbed by many analysts as "market-
friendly".
Both were former coordinating ministers in the current
administration.
The nomination of ret. Gen. Wiranto as the presidential
aspirant for the Golkar Party had in part spoiled the sentiment
and helped spark off profit-taking, some traders said.
"Wiranto's candidacy appeared to dampen sentiment, spurring
profit-taking after recent gains," a trader with a European
brokerage told Dow Jones.
Wiranto, with his questionable human rights record, caused
market jitters he would isolate the country from the global
community and further jeopardize investment prospects here, a
trader said.
The former TNI head has been accused of involvement in the
bloody violence during the breakaway of East Timor from Indonesia
in 1999, although he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Another dealer at a state bank disagreed, saying the profit-
taking was caused more by bargain-hunters wishing to cash in on
their recent gains.
"If (Wiranto's bid) did cause such a fear, the stock index
should have gone down on Wednesday, as Wiranto's presidential bid
had been confirmed before that.
"We can see instead the index on that day went up even
higher," he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the decline was
normal for a market that had previously been on the rise.
The country's largest telecommunications firm Telkom -- which
has dropped about 10 percent during the past week -- was down Rp
350 at Rp 8,150. Indosat, the second largest telcom, was also
among the losers, dropping Rp 100 rupiah to Rp 4,425.
Banking shares also suffered a decline, with Bank Central Asia
(BCA) leading the drop by Rp 75 to close at Rp 3,925.
Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) lost Rp 50 at Rp 1,859, followed
by a Rp 25 drop by the nation's largest lender, Bank Mandiri,
which ended the day at Rp 1,525.
As for the gainers, the country's biggest automaker Astra
International and cigarette producer giant Sampoerna led the
list. Sampoerna jumped by Rp 225 to Rp 5,200, while Astra was up
Rp 100 at Rp 6,050.
Dealers said some institutional fund managers continued to buy
select blue chips on hopes of higher first quarter net profits,
expected to be announced next month, Dow Jones reported.
Dealers said they expect the market Friday to trade flat to
lower on further profit-taking.
On the currency market, the rupiah closed unchanged at 8,650
against the U.S. dollar, with the central bank thought to have
intervened to support the local unit, under pressure recently
from the dollar's new-found strength.
Currency analyst Pardi Kendy said currently external factors
were posing more threats to the local market that internal ones.