Jakarta stocks increase slightly on bargain hunting
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Shares on the Jakarta stock market ended slightly higher on Tuesday on a technical rebound as investors snapped up stocks after profit taking in the previous trading sessions, a stock analyst said.
The Jakarta Stock Composite Index closed higher by 3.927 points, or 0.5 percent, at 771.739, on volume of 995.98 million shares worth Rp 541.33 billion (US$63 million). Gainers led losers 59 to 48, while 83 stocks were unchanged.
Shares of heavyweight state-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) led the gain with a 1.3 percent surge, or Rp 100, to Rp 7,900. Telkom is the largest counter on the JSX with around 17 percent of market capitalization.
Bank Central Asia (BCA), the country's third largest lender in terms of assets, gained Rp 75 to close at Rp 3,750, and Bank Danamon rose by Rp 125 to Rp 3,225. Cigarette maker PT Gudang Garam was up Rp 50 at Rp 13,300.
"There has been no significant news for the bourse. The rise is mainly caused by bargain hunting on selected bluechips after profit taking on Monday," said stock analyst Edy S. Widjojo of Ciptadana Securities.
He said that the gains made on Tuesday might encourage other investors to buy shares over the next couple of days. However, investors were also not ruling out the possibility of profit- taking following the gains.
Edy, however, said that the overall sentiment in the market would remain gloomy for the next couple of weeks on fears of political instability following news that a number of politicians and parties might reject the results of the general election.
"Political uncertainty will overshadow the stock market in the coming days." he said.
Concerns about the outcome of the general election as well as the slow ballot counting process, and how it will affect the upcoming presidential election on July 5, have worried some investors.
The situation has been further exacerbated by the recent move by 17 of the 24 political parties contesting this year's legislative election to reject the poll results, and their demand for the General Elections Commission (KPU) to hold the election again due to what they claimed was endemic vote-rigging.
Gains in a number of benchmark global stock markets due to growing economic confidence have helped reduce the distress on the JSX.
In Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index gained 0.71 percent or 85.12 points to close at 12,127.82, its highest since August 2001.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 122.44 points to 13,031.81.
Elsewhere, the rupiah was at Rp 8,590 against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, up from Rp 8,595 on Monday.