Rupiah, stocks rise on regional boost

Rupiah, stocks rise on regional boost

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's rattled financial market showed
uncharacteristic stability on Monday despite reports of a large
student rally at the House of Representatives (DPR).

The rupiah, which opened at 10,900 against the dollar, held
firm all day due to an improvement in the region's financial
markets before closing at 10,850/10,875.

A student rally outside the DPR on Monday did not draw
significant market attention away from Malaysia's foreign
exchange capital control introduced last week.

"The student demonstration didn't really pressure the rupiah,"
one currency dealer said.

Hundreds of student protesters tore down the gates in front of
the DPR complex during their demonstration, in which they
demanded President B.J. Habibie step down because he had
mishandled the country's economic crisis.

As the students advanced from the gates into the compound,
hundreds of riot police blocked their way, forcing a standoff.

Currency dealers, however, warned that if similar
demonstrations continued to occur, the rupiah would fall against
the American dollar.

Stock prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) closed the
day 3.1 percent higher in moderate trading on the back of
improved sentiment in other regional major equities markets.

Stockbrokers said a strengthening yen and a bounce in equity
markets throughout Asia contributed to the local bourse's surge.

"Monday's rise in stock prices was just a spillover from other
regional markets because confidence in the country's market has
yet to improve," said the associate director of Bahana
Securities, Andre Cita.

The JSX Composite Index closed 10.25 points firmer at 335.81
on a total volume of 184.93 million shares valued at Rp 261.18
billion (US$24.18 million).

Gainers outpaced losers 61 to 22 with 78 shares remaining
unchanged.

Andre said short-term oriented traders took the advantage of
the regional uplift to buy cheap stocks with strong fundamentals
in the local bourse.

"This helped the market rise slightly," he said.

Stockbrokers said that foreign fund managers, who had long
stayed away from the local bourse, were not overly anxious about
the student rally and recent labor protests demanding the
government lower prices of basic commodities.

Stockbrokers said, however, that although stock prices rose,
trading activities in the local exchange remained thin as most
foreign investors remained absent from the local market.

Most large capitalized stocks ended higher on Monday with
Telekom rising Rp 175 to Rp 2,275 on 6.04 million shares, Tambang
Timah by Rp 200 to Rp 4,600 on 442,000 shares and international
satellite operator Indosat by Rp 600 to Rp 7,525 on 1.08 million
shares.

Cigarettemaker HM Sampoerna also enjoyed an increase of Rp 175
to Rp 2,350 on 10.78 million shares, while rival Gudang Garam
rose Rp 200 to Rp 8,000 on 415,000 shares. (aly)