Jakarta stocks under foreign selling pressure
Jakarta stocks under foreign selling pressure
JAKARTA (JP): Share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) dropped significantly last week, following the heavy selling pressure from offshore investors on the last day of trading.
On Friday, the JSX Composite Index fell by almost three percent during the first session before rebounding in the afternoon trading. The index closed the week at 474.59, a drop of 13.73 points (2.8 percent) from the week's opening of 488.32.
The weak sentiment across regional markets also affected the Indonesian stock market. In addition, the Mexican peso's plunge on Thursday triggered even more selling pressure on Friday. Foreign investors also worried about the increasing Indonesian current account deficit that would presumably affect the depreciation of the Indonesian currency.
On the first four days of the week, the stock market was relatively quiet. The newly listed stock, Asahimas, made an unimpressive debut on Wednesday. The stock only gained Rp 25 and closed at Rp 2,475 (US$1.08) on that day. It dropped further and closed the week at Rp 2,400.
Bhuwanatala Indah Permai came out as the largest gainer. The stock reached a high of Rp 2,650 on Thursday and closed the week at Rp 2,175, an increase of Rp 1,025. The stock jumped drastically amid the announcement of a tender offer from Bhakti Karya Indah Permai.
Separately, both Lippo Land and Bank Lippo came under modest selling pressure following continued market rumors that Bank Lippo might be facing financial difficulties.
The market will most likely remain weak this week. A weak support level can be found at 472. Telkom's listing on Tuesday night will be a major factor affecting the market sentiment as a whole this week.
Local players were active last week, mostly on speculative counters. The counters which were actively traded included Bhuwanatala Indah Permai, Gajah Tunggal, BDNI, SMART, Asahimas, Bank Lippo, Lippo Land and Dharmala Sakti
The foreign players were on the selling side last week. The counters which saw active foreign trading were Semen Gresik, Indosat and Astra International.
Average daily turnover on the regular board increased to 29.3 million shares worth Rp 78.1 billion (US$34.1 million) last week from 20.8 million shares worth Rp 58.0 billion in the previous week. Last week's total turnover also increased to 230.1 million shares valued at Rp 716.5 billion from 180.6 million shares valued at Rp 567.7 billion in the previous week.
Some of the best performers last week were Bhuwanatala Indah Permai (up Rp 1,025), Langgeng Makmur (up Rp 300), Bank Tamara (up Rp 275), Tifico (up Rp 250) and Indorama (up Rp 225). The biggest losers were Modern Photo (down Rp 1,600), Asuransi Ramayana (down Rp 1,525), Voksel Electric (down Rp 1,250), Toko Gunung Agung and HM Sampoerna (each down Rp 800). Losers outnumbered gainers by 100 to 33, while 30 counters remained unchanged.
-- Sigma Batara