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.