Rupiah, shares slip in quiet trading
Rupiah, shares slip in quiet trading
JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah closed marginally lower at 7,525
against the U.S. dollar on Monday, while stock prices fell
slightly in a stagnant market, currency dealers and stock brokers
said.
Currency dealers said that the rupiah traded in a very narrow
range between 7,475 and 7,575 before finishing the day almost
unchanged from its Friday close at 7,500.
"Offshore operators are reluctant to enter the market ahead of
the year's end because most of them have now squared their
positions of the previous months," a chief dealer with a local
private bank said.
Currency dealers said that although local banks were buying
some dollars to repay offshore debts and finance imports, the
thin demand failed to push the rupiah down.
Dealers said the rupiah would continue to stand firm at around
7,500 to the dollar until the end of the year.
Share prices on the local market fell slightly as the result
of bearishness in regional equity markets and the continued
absence of foreign funds.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) main composite index fell
0.89 points to 404.70 on a total turnover of 275.15 million
shares valued at Rp 262.22 billion (US$34.96 million).
Gainers outnumbered losers by 57 to 45, with shares in 92
companies remaining unchanged.
Stock brokers said that some fund managers had entered the
local stock market for superficial "window dressing" operations.
"I don't think foreign investors can see any reasons to enter
the market to make real purchases," Fitri Murniati from BNI
Securities said.
A number of foreign brokerage firms, including SBC Warburg and
ING Barings Securities placed more buying orders than selling
orders on Monday, but other foreign firms including Jardine
Fleming, Indosuez WICarr Securities sold more than they bought.
Brokers said that investors buying second line stocks for
window dressing purposes failed to prop up share prices on the
local bourse.
The heavyweight state-owned telecommunications firms PT Telkom
and Indosat both lost ground. Together these two firms account
for 25 percent of market capitalization on the local bourse.
International call operator PT Indosat's share prices fell Rp
200 to Rp 10,100 on 318,000 shares while PT Telkom's shares down
Rp 25 to Rp 2,875 on 4.59 million shares. (aly)