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)