Jakarta Stocks Gain; Bank Mandiri, Perusahaan Gas Negara advance
Jakarta Stocks Gain; Bank Mandiri, Perusahaan Gas Negara advance
Naila Firdausi , Bloomberg/Jakarta
Jakarta stocks rose for the fourth day in five. Banks such as PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia led gains after PT Bank NISP said profit surged in the first 10 months of the year on more lending.
"Banks have good profit potential as demand for loans will continue to grow," said Katarina Setiawan, deputy head of research at Kim Eng Securities in Jakarta.
The Jakarta Composite Index added 9.506, or 1 percent, to 976.319 at the 4 p.m. local time close. Gaining stocks led declining stocks 67 to 45.
Oil and gas companies such as PT Perusahaan Gas Negara and PT Medco Energi Internasional advanced as the Constitutional Court upheld a law that allows private companies to enter the retail fuel business.
Mandiri, Indonesia's biggest lender by assets, added 100 rupiah, or 5.5 percent, to 1,925. PT Bank Rakyat, Indonesia's No. 4 lender, jumped Rp 150, or 6.1 percent, to 2,625. PT Bank Negara Indonesia, the nation's third-biggest lender, climbed Rp 50, or 3.3 percent, to 1,550. The three banks accounted for almost 70 percent of the composite index's advance today.
Bank NISP, 22.5 percent owned by Singapore's Oversea- Chinese Banking Corp., said net income climbed 78 percent in the first 10 months of the year as it expanded lending and cut interest costs. Bank NISP was unchanged at Rp 775.
"I'm still quite positive on Indonesian banks," said Irene Foo, who helps manage $2.2 billion assets at SG Asset Management in Singapore, including stocks of Indonesian banks.
About 1.21 billion shares worth Rp 1.09 trillion($117 million) changed hands, 28 percent more than the six-month daily average value.
The following stocks rose or fell. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.
Oil and gas: Indonesia's Constitutional Court today upheld a 2001 oil and gas law that allows private companies to enter the fuel retailing business and scrapped state oil company PT Pertamina's monopoly on the imports and distribution of fuel in the country.
PT Medco Energi Internasional, Indonesia's biggest oil company by value, rose Rp 75, or 3.9 percent, to 2,025. PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, a state-controlled gas distributor, added Rp 100, or 5.1 percent, to 1,850.
PT Astra Agro Lestari, Indonesia's biggest publicly traded agricultural company, lost Rp 25, or 0.8 percent, to 3,250. Palm oil for March delivery lost 0.7 percent to 1,399 ringgit ($368) a metric ton on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange at 4:49 p.m. Kuala Lumpur time.
PT Indonesian Satellite Corp. or Indosat, the country's No. 2 phone company, fell Rp 50, or 0.9 percent, to 5,500. The company said in a statement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange that 22,000 shares from converted options start trading today on the exchange.
PT International Nickel Indonesia, the local unit of the world's second-biggest nickel-mining company, Inco Ltd., gained Rp 200, or 1.9 percent, to 10,850. Nickel for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange rose 3.8 percent to $15,200 a metric ton at 8:12 a.m. London time, the highest since Oct. 12.
PT Semen Gresik, Indonesia's biggest cement maker by sales, jumped Rp 1,050, or 6.6 percent, to 16,950.
"There's a strong expectation that the government will soon reach an agreement with" a unit of Mexico's Cemex SA, said Made Satyaguna, an analyst at PT BNI Securities in Jakarta.