Rupiah drifts lower on regional bearishness
JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah drifted down on Friday to close at 8,850 against the U.S. dollar as the Japanese yen sank further ahead of a weekend meeting of the Group of Seven in Bonn, currency dealers said.
Meanwhile, share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange closed barely changed on late profit-taking in large-cap stocks amid concerns over the bank recapitalization plan, stockbrokers said.
Currency dealers said trading remained thin on Friday but the market continued to bid for dollars.
"The rupiah fell again today as most offshore players bid for dollar as the yen fell through the 120 level," a dealer with a local private bank said.
Dealers said profit taking ahead of the weekend and dollar offers from state banks, however, prevented the dollar from advancing through the psychological barrier of 9,000 rupiah.
The rupiah closed at 8,850, weaker than Thursday's close at 8,775.
Dealers said trading would get more active next week as most dealers would reenter the market after the Chinese New Year holiday.
Meanwhile, trading activities on the JSX improved slightly on Friday as some investors again speculated on large-cap stocks, stockbrokers said.
Trading volume on the exchange totaled 146.5 million shares valued at Rp 146.2 million, compared with 82 million shares worth Rp 68.2 billion on Thursday.
The main price index, the JSX Composite Index, was up 0.604 points, a mere 0.1 percent, to close at 404.018.
Declines led advances 37 to 26, with 79 issues remaining unchanged.
An institutional sales broker with Trimegah Securindolestari, Vonny Juwono, said trading activity had improved a little bit due to foreign fund inflows.
"Some big foreign brokerages were quite active today. This improved market activity," she said, pointing out that Jardine Fleming Nusantara was a net seller and the most active trader.
The head of research at Usaha Bersama Sekuritas, Baradita Katopo, said trading was totally speculative as there were no fresh leads in the market which could guide trading.
"The only guide today was from regional markets. But regionals were also down, except Singapore," Baradita said.
He said trading should improve slightly next week but noted that investors would still take a wait and see attitude until the government announces the closure of some private banks next weekend.
Stockbrokers and analysts expect the market next week to be flat to higher, but cautious, given the domestic political situation as many political parties have already started campaigning for the general elections in June.
Large-cap stocks ended mixed on Friday, with state domestic telephone monopoly PT Telkom inching up Rp 25 to close at Rp 2,925 on six million stocks traded.
International call operator PT Indosat was also up Rp 25 to close at Rp 12,150.
Diversified mining firm PT Aneka Tambang was down Rp 25 at Rp 1,475 and tin mining firm PT Tambang Timah was also down Rp 150 at Rp 4,925, following the announcement of full year results.
Cigarette maker PT Gudang Garam gained Rp 400 to Rp 12,400, while competitor PT HM Sampoerna fell Rp 175 to Rp 5,800. (rid)