RI shares end higher on year-end window dressing
RI shares end higher on year-end window dressing
Dow Jones, Jakarta
Indonesian shares ended higher Friday on window-dressing
buying as fund managers sought to improve their equity portfolios
before the year-end book-closing, dealers said.
Expectations that the economy will perform better under the
new government also spurred those with a mid-term investment
focus to continue to buy Indonesian shares, dealers said.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index ended up 16.188
points, or 1.7 percent, at 973.354.
Gainers led decliners 107 to 37, with 62 stocks unchanged.
Volume was 1.7 billion shares valued at Rp 1.5 trillion.
Bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia headed the gainers. The
stock rose 1.5 percent at Rp 4,950 on the company's plan to buy a
stake of up to 30 percent in an Asian telecommunications company
next year.
Dealers said investors continued to buy shares of cement maker
Semen Gresik on news the government expects to settle by Jan. 28
its dispute about management control with Mexico's Cemex, which
has a 25 percent stake in the Indonesian firm. Gresik rose 2.9
percent at Rp 16,100.
Cigarette maker Gudang Garam rose 1.5 percent to Rp 13,250 and
rival Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna climbed 4.7 percent to Rp 6,750.
Dealers said they expect the market to trade higher Monday on
further year-end window dressing.
Meanwhile, the rupiah ended lower for the second consecutive
session Friday amid rising dollar demand from local corporates to
settle their foreign debts, dealers said.
The dollar finished at Rp 9,315, up from its close Thursday at
Rp 9,270. The U.S. unit hit an intraday high of Rp 9,330.
"The fall of the rupiah is purely on rising demand for the
dollar," said a trader with a foreign bank. Underlying sentiment
for the rupiah, he said, remains positive amid expectations that
the economy will perform better under the new government.
Demand for the dollar is usually robust toward the year-end as
local companies repay maturing offshore debts. Local companies
are saddled with around $60 billion in offshore borrowings.
Dealers said a tight liquidity position in the rupiah,
however, prevented the U.S. currency from strengthening further.
"The dollar's rally was also limited by worries that the
central bank would intervene in the market to defend the rupiah,"
said another trader with a state-owned bank.
Analysts say Bank Indonesia needs to stop the rupiah from
falling further to help curb imported inflation. If it does so,
the central bank wouldn't have to raise interest rates - which
could hurt the economy.
Dealers expect the U.S. currency to trade between Rp 9,300 and
Rp 9,350 Monday.