Rupiah stays at 10,000 level but stocks fall

Rupiah stays at 10,000 level but stocks fall

JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah managed to stay relatively unchanged
at 10,000 level to the U.S. dollar on Thursday despite several
other regional currencies losing ground.

The rupiah ended slightly weaker at 10,775 against the
greenback, compared to Wednesday's close of 10,750.

But share prices in Jakarta continued to weaken, with the main
price gauge falling almost 1 percent on the back of Wall Street's
overnight fall and selling pressure on certain blue chip stocks,
brokers said.

Currency dealers said that rupiah trading was barely moderate
as most market players had moved to the sidelines of the local
financial market.

"Trading activities are so thin and dull," a dealer with a
joint venture bank said, adding that the total value of
transactions was between US$60 million and $70 million.

The dealer said that a 3 percent cut in the interest rate of
Bank Indonesia's short-term notes to around 64.74 percent on
Thursday from 67.43 percent the previous week did not affect the
rupiah.

"Market players are not keen about speculating on the rupiah
anymore," he said.

Dealers said the rupiah maintained its 10,000 level partly due
to dollar-selling by several state banks, like Bank Bumi Daya
(BBD) and Bank Dagang Negara (BDN).

But most dealers said that sentiment over the rupiah in the
coming weeks would be bleak as lingering fears about political
and social instability at home would put pressure on it.

Unlike the rupiah, stock prices on Jakarta Stock Exchange
(JSX) closed almost 1 percent lower with the main price index
falling 2.29 points to 273.86 on a total turnover of 137.90
million shares changing hands valued at Rp 130.47 billion
(US$12.1 million).

Losers led gainers 52 to 31 with 69 stocks remaining
unchanged.

Stock brokers said that a 2.9 percent fall in Wall Street on
Wednesday had weighed heavy on local market sentiment with most
foreign investors dumping telecommunications and mining blue chip
stocks.

"I think there are no fresh leads at all in the market to
boost investors' sentiment," a broker with Trimegah
Securindolestari said.

She said that most foreign investors remained on the selling
side for the whole trading day, discarding most blue chip stocks
which account for a large proportion of market capitalization on
the hammered bourse.

Antonio Yongnata, an institutional sales director of Mashill
Jaya Securities said that investors were still cautious over the
country's political situation which saw no signs of recovery in
the near future.

"Though there are no demonstrations in the capital, investors
are still worried,' he said.

Brokers said the dire economic situation coupled with
unresolved political instability at home would not be able to
tantalize foreign investors to enter the local battered market.

"it is just too bad that there has been no good news at all to
work with over the past few days," associate director of Bahana
Securities Andre Cita said.

Most blue chip stocks, which determined the movement of the
local market, declined Thursday with state telecommunications
firm PT Telkom falling Rp 50 to Rp 1,475 on 10.91 million shares
traded, international call operator PT Indosat shed Rp 125 to Rp
5,650 on 289,000 shares, pulp and paper producer PT Tjiwi Kimia
slid Rp 25 to Rp 975 on 2.91 million shares and mining firm PT
Tambang Timah falling Rp 150 to Rp 4,525 on 1.15 million shares
changing hands. (aly)