Jakarta stocks to move sideways
Jakarta stocks to move sideways
Agence France-Presse, Jakarta, Singapore
Indonesia's stock market is expected to trade sideways this
week on concerns about possible violence when election
campaigning starts, analysts said.
"There is a potential for investors to move sideways while
they wait and see for potential trouble during the campaign
period," BCI Securities analyst Lorensius Chrisbiantoro said over
the weekend.
Campaigning for the April 5 legislative elections starts next
Thursday.
Any major unrest could prompt "a significant correction," he
said.
BNI Securities analyst Fitri Murniawati also said the market
will tend to consolidate as investors wait out the campaigning
period.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed on Friday at
778.010, up 16.929 points or 2.2 percent from the previous on
Friday. Average daily volume was 2.12 billion shares worth Rp
931.7 billion (US$108.3 million) compared with 3.3 billion shares
worth Rp 1.39 trillion the previous week.
Meanwhile in Singapore, share prices are expected to
consolidate due to the absence of market-moving leads and to
allow for a breather.
The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at 1,891.54 on Friday, up
just 2.91 points from the previous week.
"There are no catalysts to bring the stock market any higher.
SingTel alone has kept the index up for the past few weeks, but
there shouldn't be much more upside left (to the stock)," said
Kim Eng Securities research head Seah Hiang Hong.
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) had been in the
spotlight during the week following news of Belgacom's impending
initial public offering (IPO).
Last week, average daily volume totaled 870.82 million shares
valued at S$852.69 million ($498.65 million), down from 1.05
billion shares worth S$892.12 million the week earlier.
In Tokyo, Japanese share prices are likely to rise on the
country's improving economic fundamentals and a fall in the yen.
"Investors are buying (Tokyo) stocks due to improving economic
fundamentals in Japan rather than chasing movements in New York,"
said Kazunori Jinnai, equity department chief at Daiwa Securities
SMBC.
"Share prices are likely to firm next week," Jinnai said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index jumped last week
495.37 points or 4.49 percent to a 21-month high of 11,537.29
while the broader Topix index of all first section issues rose
48.54 points or 4.48 percent to 1,131.01.
Hong Kong shares meanwhile, are expected also to trade
rangebound this week as the market continues to consolidate its
recent gains.
Stocks would stabilize at the 13,500-13,500 level, as the
market retreats in the absence of fresh news, they said.
Last week, the Hang Seng Index fell by 452.27 points or 3.25
percent to close on Friday at 13,454.76.
In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian stock prices are likely to gain
ground but trading on the bourse is likely to be choppy,
punctuated by bouts of profit-taking.
"While the heavyweights will continue to be market leaders,
activity in the lower liners would remain light and limited to
selective stocks," said Victor Wan, senior analyst with Mercury
Securities.
Another dealer said the bourse was expected to edge upwards
due to the expectations of a resounding victory for the ruling
party and the improving market sentiments brought about by the
economic resilience.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index rose 6.91
points in the past week to close Friday at 886.15.