Key stock index gains for 2nd day
Key stock index gains for 2nd day
Naila Firdausi, Bloomberg/Jakarta
Indonesia's stock index rose for a second day. PT Astra International gained as investors bet lower oil costs will allow the government to delay raising retail fuel prices.
PT International Nickel Indonesia (Inco) declined on lower nickel prices.
The Jakarta Composite Index added 0.71, or 0.1 percent, to 1163.03 at the 4 p.m. local time close. Gaining stocks and decliners were about equal. The measure, which rose 0.8 percent and fell 0.6 percent earlier, is set for a 16 percent jump this year, its fourth straight advance.
The index jumped 1.7 percent on Monday after crude oil prices had the biggest drop in almost three months on Dec. 16. Oil fell 1.2 percent to US$57.34 a barrel on Monday in New York, the lowest close since Nov. 30. The contract was at $57.53 at 3:33 p.m. in Singapore.
"The pressure for the government to raise fuel prices is easing," said Alvin Pattisahusiwa, who helps manage about $203 million at Fortis Investments in Jakarta. "Global crude prices are not much higher than the level assumed in the budget."
The government's 2006 budget, approved last month by lawmakers, assumes an average crude price of $57 a barrel. A 26 percent increase in crude costs in the past year prompted Indonesia, the only net oil importer among Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members, to raise retail fuel prices twice this year to prevent subsidies draining the nation's coffers.
Astra, Indonesia's biggest automobile distributor, added Rp 100, or 1 percent, to Rp 10,250. PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional, the No. 2, jumped Rp 130, or 15 percent, to Rp 1,020. PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa, the second-biggest retailer by sales, jumped Rp 40, or 5.1 percent, to Rp 830.
PT Energi Mega Persada, Indonesia's No. 2 oil and gas company, slipped Rp 10, or 1.4 percent, to Rp 730.
Elsewhere, Inco, a local unit of Canada's Inco Ltd., fell Rp 100, or 0.8 percent, to Rp 12,950. Nickel dropped 1.6 percent to $13,775 a metric ton on Monday in London. The contract was at $13,650 a ton at 9:26 a.m. London time.
PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), the country's fourth-largest lender by assets, added Rp 25, or 0.8 percent, to Rp 3,050. BRI expects to beat its profit forecast of Rp 3.73 trillion ($378 million) this year on increased lending to small- and medium- sized businesses, said Chief Financial Officer Wayan Alit Antara.
PT Bank Mandiri, Indonesia's largest lender, lost Rp 20, or 1.3 percent, to Rp 1,560. The stock has fallen 6 percent since UBS AG analyst Joshua Tanja in a report on Dec. 14 cut the recommendation on the lender's stock to "reduce2" from "neutral2."
PT Berlian Laju Tanker, Indonesia's biggest shipping company by value, rose Rp 30, or 3 percent, to Rp 1,020.
"There is going to be a lot of trade in and out of" the Asian region "in the next two, three, five even 10 years," David Riedel, chairman of Riedel Research Group Inc., said in New York. Berlian "is a great play on that trend."
PT Delta Dunia Petroindo, an apparel manufacturer, dropped Rp 230, or 29 percent, to Rp 550, sliding for a third day. The stock has risen more than seven times this year to Dec. 14.
"It's a speculative small stock, and investors think the price has jumped too much," said Arief Satria, an analyst at PT Danasakti Sekuritas in Jakarta. Danasakti was a net seller of the stock on Tuesday.