Rupiah still weak as stocks slip further
JAKARTA (JP): The rupiah remained weak, closing flat at 7,750 against the U.S. dollar in very quite trading on Friday as stock prices closed 0.3 percent lower due to profit taking, currency dealers and stock brokers said.
Currency dealers said that the beleaguered rupiah continued to be traded in a very narrow range between 7,750 and 7,800 on Friday due to lack of fresh leads in the local currency market.
"Trading was quiet and volume was very thin ahead of year-end holidays. Most operators have left the market empty," a chief dealer at a local private bank said.
Dealers said the rupiah should range between 7,500 and 8,000 toward year-end provided there is no big political or social unrest.
They also said that trading activities were expected to lessen next week because of the Muslim fasting month and Christmas holidays.
Like the rupiah, share prices in the local market wilted again on Friday, dragged down by extended profit taking on gains made the previous days and lack of fresh leads in the battered local market.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) Composite Index fell 0.3 percent (1.62 points) to 403.96 on a total turnover of 155.69 million shares changing hands worth Rp 163.02 billion.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by 51 to 33 with 79 stocks unchanged.
Stock brokers said that persistent antigovernment protests, which in the past few months failed to negatively affect market sentiment, surprisingly scared most investors away from the local market on Friday forcing them to discard stocks they bought the previous day.
"Investors are again concerned that antigovernment protest might turn violent," Vonny Juwono, a broker at Trimegah Securindolestari, said.
Brokers said that foreign fund managers, who still allocated a a measure of their funds despite the country's political social tension in the past few weeks, did not enter the local market due to rising tension between students and the security authorities on Thursday.
"Foreign investors are out of the question now as they have not found any meaningful guide to entering here," head of research of BNI Securities Adrian Rusmana said.
Trimegah's Vonny said foreign brokerage firms like ABN Amro, Merrill Lynch Indonesia, SBC Warburg, Jardine Fleming, who were active in the previous days, were no longer present in the market on Friday.
Stock brokers said that trading volume in the local bourse had significantly declined to just around Rp 150 billion on Friday, almost half of its daily transaction value recorded in the previous weeks.
"There is nothing special with this small volume, considering the approaching year-end. Some foreign fund managers are already on holiday," another broker said.
Large-cap stocks ended mixed, with market leader state-owned telecommunications firm PT Telkom closed unchanged at Rp 2,725 on 2.6 million shares traded.
International call operator PT Indosat gained Rp 225 to close at Rp 10,550 on news that it would issue rights shares to raise US$200 million to finance its expansion.
Cigarette maker PT Gudang Garam lost Rp 150 to Rp 11,925 on 164,000 shares traded, while competitor PT HM Sampoerna ended unchanged at Rp 5,250 on 164,000 shares.
Pulp and paper company PT Tjiwi Kimia slid Rp 75 to Rp 2,075 on 1.7 million shares changing hands, while automotive firm PT Astra International gained Rp 25 to Rp 1,025 on 2.1 million shares. (aly)