Rupiah and stock prices continue stabilizing
Rupiah and stock prices continue stabilizing
JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah and stock prices continued to
stabilize yesterday in response to the government's move to seek
financial help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
dealers and stockbrokers said.
Currency dealers said the rupiah was stable against the U.S.
dollar in late trading after making a gradual recovery in the
morning.
They said spot rupiah closed at 3,550/70 compared with the
opening of 3,535/75 and Wednesday's close of 3,665.
Persistent domestic dollar demand kept the rupiah hovering
around the 3,550 level for almost the entire day, dealers said.
The trading range improved yesterday, staying between 3,550
and 3,590 -- lower than the previous range of more than 100
points.
Dealers said that Bank Indonesia, the central bank, continued
to intervene in the market yesterday by selling a small amount of
dollars.
"The amount has been relatively small, but by doing this, the
central bank wants to show the market that it has been doing
something," a dealer said.
A local bank dealer said that the mood was relatively bleak
yesterday as most operators were reluctant to make an aggressive
move.
"Transactions have been relatively small as most dealers
hardly made any transactions yesterday," he said.
Most operators wanting to buy dollars were worried about
making a deal at a high rate if the help requested by Indonesia
from the IMF and other agencies resulted in a further
strengthening of the rupiah.
The government announced on Wednesday that it would seek
financial help from multilateral institutions, including the IMF
and the World Bank, to restore market confidence in Indonesia.
The strengthening rupiah also affected other currencies in the
region with the Malaysian ringgit, the Philippine peso and the
Singaporean dollar gaining ground. Only the Thai baht lost a bit.
The stabilizing rupiah and the IMF move sent a positive
sentiment to the Jakarta Stock Exchange, which saw a 0.4 percent
increase in the composite index.
The index closed 2.17 points higher to 521.11 yesterday. Total
turnover was 614.7 million shares worth Rp 633.2 billion
(US$180.91 million).
Brokers said the IMF move had especially bolstered market
sentiment.
However, an analyst with a joint securities firm warned that
the feeling would not last long as the market was very cautious
with the uncertain direction of the rupiah in the currency
market.
He said people were not interested in taking long-term
positions and investors were cashing in on gains made in the past
few days.
State-owned domestic telecommunications giant Telkom gained Rp
25 to close at Rp 3,650, while state-owned international
telecommunications firm Indosat lost Rp 400 at Rp 9,075.
Gudang Garam, the country's largest cigarette maker, lost Rp
200 to close at Rp 9,300, while its rival Sampoerna rose Rp 75 at
Rp 5,550.
State-owned Bank Negara Indonesia was up Rp 50 to Rp 800, Bank
Internasional Indonesia was unchanged at Rp 750, Bank Dagang
Nasional Indonesia closed Rp 25 stronger at Rp 575, while Bank
Danamon was up Rp 50 at Rp 625. (aly/rid)
Currencies -- Page 11