Noodle firm helps boost the lackluster JSX market

Noodle firm helps boost the lackluster JSX market

By Sigma Batara

JAKARTA (JP): Indofood Sukses Makmur's debut on the Jakarta
Stock Exchange last week provided a boost to the lackluster
market, which has been on a drift for quite sometime. Further,
the U.S. consumer price index rise of 0.3 percent in June came
within analysts expectations and delayed the likelihood of
another increase in the short term U.S. dollar interest rate.

This was reflected by persistent foreign buying during last
week, which was followed by local investors. The reinvigorated
market prompted active trading activities across the board, which
was seen on counters such as BII, Indah Kiat, Indorayon, Tjiwi
Kimia, Matahari, Astra International and Mulia Industrindo.

Although most trading activities were dominated by local
investors, the end of the week saw foreign investors dominating
the crossing board in terms of volume and frequency. The three-
day bull run during the week pushed the JSX (Jakarta Stock
Exchange) Composite Index up by 9.63 points to close at 461.83
over the previous week.

Average daily turnover on the regular board increased to 6.3
million shares worth Rp 25.45 billion (US$11.76 million), as
compared to 4.7 million shares worth Rp 18.73 billion in the
previous week. Total turnover for the week also increased to
81.50 million shares valued at Rp 378.50 billion from 49.85
million shares valued at Rp 227.83 billion in the previous week.

While some fund managers were still in the process of reducing
their Indonesian portfolios, others were discreetly increasing
their portfolios for the longer term. Trading was mostly
conducted on the crossing board, while their target stocks
included Mulia Industrindo, Indorayon, Indofood, Kabel Metal,
Japfa, Ganda Wangsa, Bank Mashill, Putra Surya Perkasa, Astra
International, Bank Int'l Ind., SMART Corp., Indah Kiat,
Andayani, Gajah Tunggal, Argha Karya and Tjiwi Kimia.

Local institutions and speculators also started to enter the
bourse, closely following foreign players. Aided by the listing
of Indofood and the anticipation of better second-half earnings,
local players considered many counters as undervalued. Their
favorite stocks included Surabaya Agung, Indah Kiat, Ganda
Wangsa, Indofood, Mayatexdian, Pan Brothers, Japfa, Tjiwi Kimia,
BDNI, Modern Bank, Dharmala Intiland, Barito Pacific, Inco,
Texmaco Jaya and Jakarta International Hotel.

The four bonus shares listed last week were Argo Pantes
(1-for-4), Ekadharma (1-for-10), Fast Food (1-for-1) and Zebra
Nusantara (1-for-2).

Among the week's best performers were Indofood SM (up Rp
1,525), HM Sampoerna (up Rp 1,300), Bank Int'l Ind. (up Rp 900),
Sekar Bumi (up Rp 550) and Indorama (up Rp 500). The biggest
losers were Unilever and Schering Plough (down Rp 500 each),
Sumalindo Lestari (down Rp 450), Barito Pacific (down Rp 400) and
Indocitra (down Rp 300). Gainers outnumbered losers by 55 to 43,
while 17 remained unchanged.