JSX down o profit taking in Indosat, Lippo
JSX down o profit taking in Indosat, Lippo
Dow Jones, Jakarta
Indonesian shares ended lower on Friday on profit-taking in
Indonesian Satellite and Bank Lippo after the main index gained
over the past four sessions, dealers said.
"It's a fair technical correction after recent gains," said a
trader with a foreign securities firm.
Dealers said news of suspected bird-flu cases in the capital
also added to negative sentiment.
A man and his two daughters have died of suspected bird flu in
Indonesia, authorities said Friday, and initial investigations
showed they had no contact with poultry, raising concerns of
possible human-to-human transmission.
The authorities have sent specimens to Hong Kong to confirm
the results, which will take seven to 10 days.
"If it proves true that the case (of bird flu) is spreading
here, I think it will continue to hit sentiment next week," said
an analyst with BNI Securities.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange's Composite Index fell 5.11 points,
or 0.5 percent, to 1,131.46.
Decliners led gainers 84 to 25, with 77 stocks unchanged.
Volume was 2.5 billion shares valued at Rp 1.4 trillion, compared
with 1.9 billion shares valued at Rp 1.5 trillion on Thursday.
Indonesian Satellite (Indosat) fell 3.7 percent to Rp 5,250 on
profit-taking after gains early this week and on expectations
that it will report lower first-half earnings due to higher costs
of debt servicing.
Bank Lippo dropped 9.5 percent to Rp 1,490 on profit-taking
after rising 20 percent over the previous four sessions on news
that consortium Swissasia will sell a 52 percent stake in the
bank.
Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional Bhd. is reported as the leading
bidder for the Bank Lippo stake.
Also hit by profit-taking, cement maker Semen Gresik fell 1.5
percent to Rp 20,200.
Bucking the trend, bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia added
1.9 percent to Rp 5,250 on its plan to pay a dividend of Rp 152 a
share to shareholders registered as of on Friday.
Dealers said they expect Indonesian shares to trade lower on
Monday, led by selling in Telkom shares because it will be
trading ex-dividend.
On the currency market, the rupiah ended higher as investors
took profit in the U.S. currency after recent gains, with
suspected central bank intervention providing support, dealers
said,
The dollar closed at Rp 9,775, down from Rp 9,805 on Thursday.
The dollar peaked at Rp 9,815 in intraday trading.
"The rupiah slightly recovered from its low on profit taking
after the dollar's recent gains," said a trader with a state-
owned bank. The dollar has risen 5 percent since the start of the
year.
Dealers also attributed the stronger rupiah to suspected
intervention by the central bank and the dollar's fall against
the Japanese yen ahead of the long weekend in Japan.
Indonesia's central bank reiterated on Friday that the recent
weakness of the rupiah is mostly due to global factors, and said
it expects the trend to be temporary.
"The weakening of the rupiah isn't something specific to the
rupiah. The Japanese yen has depreciated more than the rupiah,"
Bank Indonesia Senior Deputy Governor Miranda Gultom told
reporters on the sidelines of the Euro-Asean conference in Kuala
Lumpur.
Dealers expect the dollar to trade between Rp 9,760 and Rp
9,810 on Monday, with the rupiah likely to continue to strengthen
on the back of continuous central bank intervention.