JCI seen little changed this week
JCI seen little changed this week
Agence France-Presse
Jakarta
Jakarta share prices are likely to drift in a narrow range
with few investors willing to take fresh positions ahead of the
Independence Day holiday and with concerns over oil prices
continuing to weigh on sentiment, dealers said
For the week ended Aug. 13, the Jakarta Stock Exchange
composite index up 0.26 percent at 755.920.
Average daily turnover for the week was Rp 546.9 billion
(US$59 million) compared with Rp 600.2 billion a week earlier.
"We cannot expect too much positive movement of the index,"
Arianto Reksoprodjo, a senior analyst with Trimegah Securities,
said noting that many investors would prefer to stay on the
sidelines ahead of Tuesday's Independence Day holiday and against
a backdrop of high oil prices and renewed rupiah weakness.
Elsewhere in Tokyo, Japanese share prices are expected to
rebound this week, recovering from sharp sell-offs sparked by
record high oil prices and weaker-than-expected growth data,
dealers said.
They said Friday's selling in the wake of the June quarter
gross domestic product (GDP) data appeared to be overdone.
For the week ended Aug. 13 the Tokyo Stock Exchange's
benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 215.37 points, or 1.96 percent,
to close at 10,757.20, its lowest finish since May 18. The
broader TOPIX index of all first section shares fell 10.31 points
or 0.93 percent to 1,096.81.
"Investors overreacted to the poor GDP findings. The June GDP
data alone do not mean Japan's economic recovery has hit a snag
and I expect investors to buy back shares next week," said
Shinichiro Kobayashi, senior market analyst at UFJ Institute,
adding the Nikkei index could rebound to around the 11,000-points
level.
However surging oil prices and worries about their impact on
global demand including the technology sector would cap any
rebound said Mitsuhiro Nakano, senior market strategist at Daiwa
Research Institute,.
"High oil prices are a big negative factor because it could
really slow down the Japanese economy," Nakano said.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, shares are expected to trade higher
next week on expectations of strong corporate results from some
leading companies, dealers said.
Big blue-chip firms, including Cheung Kong, China Mobile and
Hutchison, will report their interim results next week.
However the upside will be capped by weakness on Wall Street
and ongoing concerns about record high oil prices, dealers said.
Investors are also skittish over rising oil prices which have
hurt Wall Street and most regional markets in recent days.
The key Hang Seng Index lost 118.85 points, or 0.95 percent,
over the past week to close Friday at 12,359.83.
"The sentiment in the Hong Kong market isn't bad but high oil
prices have dampened investors' confidence," said DBS Vickers
director Peter Lai said.
"Given the expected strong performance from corporate results,
investors are cautiously optimistic for the market outlook next
week," he said.
Investors will also be closely watching the release of key
U.S. data in the coming week for for further clues on the health
of the American economy.