Selling of blue chips pulls index down

JAKARTA (JP): Share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) continued losing ground yesterday due to the large sales of blue chip stocks.

Brokers and analysts said trading activity was dull as investors feared the U.S. Federal Reserves would hike interest rates.

JSX composite index dropped 9.36 points to close at 686.16 from 695.52 the previous day with losers leading gainers at 114 to 31, while another 49 shares went unchanged.

Total transaction volume also dropped to 249.84 million shares in comparison to 265.70 million shares Tuesday.

Total transaction value also dropped to Rp 558 billion against Rp 719.99 billion Tuesday.

"The market was bearish," said a broker from a joint venture brokerage firm attributing the weak market to the corporate's less-than-expected results including that reported by cigarette maker HM Sampoerna and Indosat last week.

Dealers said yesterday's fall in most blue chips' prices was partly triggered by the drop of Sampoerna's share price in the last two days.

Other big Losers included Indosat and Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).

In addition to less-than-expected financial results of several big companies', the fear of a hike in interest rates as hinted by the U.S. Federal Reserve also further dumped the buying mood, dealers said.

"Most investors either held their investment or went sideways," said Irfan Nasution, an analyst at Amsteel Securities.

Irfan said most of the price falls took place because many shares had been overvalued.

Among the losers were PT Telkom which dropped by Rp 50 to Rp 4,100, Indosat by Rp 100 to Rp 6,725, Astra local shares by Rp 50 to Rp 6,150 and its foreign shares by Rp 75 to Rp 8,100, Sampoerna by Rp 125 to Rp 11,625, Gudang Garam by Rp 125 to Rp 10,825 and BNI by Rp 50 to Rp 1,600.

Other losers included cementmaker Semen Cibinong which dropped by Rp 600 to Rp 6,550, Semen Gresik by Rp 525 to Rp 6,450, and Elang Realty by Rp 75 to Rp 825.

Gainers included Lippo Bank which rose Rp 75 to Rp 2,825, Multipolar by Rp 50 to Rp 2,950, Matahari Putera Prima by Rp 225 to Rp 3,825, Lippo Pacific Finance by Rp 425 to 2,850. (09)