Rupiah, stocks end higher
Rupiah, stocks end higher
Dow Jones
Jakarta
The rupiah ended slightly higher against the U.S. dollar in thin
trading on Friday, taking its cue from regional currencies,
dealers said.
The local unit closed at Rp 8,525 per dollar, up from 8,550 in
the previous day.
The government's 2004 budget proposal announced earlier Friday
was largely ignored as most of the details have already been
disclosed.
Instead, most interbank market participants held back from
trading amid lingering concerns over possible fresh terrorist
attacks during the weekend following last week's bombing outside
the J.W. Marriott Hotel, which killed at least 12 people.
Indonesia's police and some countries, including Australia and
the U.S., have warned of further attacks in the run-up of
Indonesia's 58th anniversary celebration on Sunday.
Trading will be closed also on Monday for a public holiday.
The government also touched on policies it promised to
implement after it ends the International Monetary Fund-led
bailout program at the end of this year, but dealers said the
details were, as usual, sketchy and therefore failed to excite
the market.
"It now all depends on whether the government will deliver its
promises or not," a dealer said.
Dealers expect the rupiah to trade between 8,500 and 8,570
next week if Indonesia survives the long weekend without any
fresh terrorist assault.
Meanwhile, shares also ended higher as investors continued to
buy PT Telkom on news it will receive compensation for losing its
exclusive right to run fixed-line services, dealers said.
The arrest of alleged terrorist Hambali also spurred buying,
dealers added. Hambali is al-Qaeda's purported chief
representative in Southeast Asia and is believed to have planned
last year's Oct. 12 bombings on the island of Bali.
"Buying wasn't strong, though," said a trader with a European
brokerage firm, adding that concerns about possible terrorist
attacks during the long weekend prevented investors from taking
strong buying positions.
Indonesian markets will be closed Monday for a holiday.
The main index ended up 1.4 percent at 516.65.