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.