Shares end at new high on Wall Street gains

Shares end at new high on Wall Street gains

Dow Jones, Jakarta

Indonesian shares closed at a fresh record high in volatile trading on Friday as Wall Street's gains overnight spurred buying of select local blue chips, dealers said.

Quick profit-taking, however, erased some of the gains and even sent the main index into negative territory in the morning session, before recovering later in the day.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite ended up 5.303 points, or 0.6 percent, at 893.639.

The main index touched an intraday high of 895.096 and an intraday low of 884.570. Gainers led decliners 67 to 56, while 82 stocks closed unchanged. Volume was exceptionally high at 1.4 trillion shares, helped by the transfer of a 10 percent stake in Bank Danamon by the government to investors who bought the shares for Rp 1.7 trillion.

The Bank Danamon deal also helped boost the overall trading value to Rp 2.8 trillion rupiah.

In the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.8 percent overnight.

Shares in Bank Danamon rose 2.8 percent to Rp 3,675 following the sale.

Bellwether Telkom gained 1.1 percent to Rp 4,650, while its smaller rival Indonesian Satellite edged up 1.0 percent to Rp 5,250.

Astra International, which makes cars and motorbikes with Japanese partners, rose 3.8 percent to Rp 8,150 on news it got $170 million and Rp 600 billion in dual-currency loans Friday from foreign and local lenders.

Gold and nickel miner Aneka Tambang rose 6.7 percent to Rp 1,600 thanks to strong global metal prices, dealers said.

Dealers expect the local bourse to continue rising next week toward the psychologically important 900 points level.

Meanwhile, the rupiah ended higher on capital inflows linked to the sale of a government stake in Bank Danamon, dealers said.

The dollar ended at Rp 9,065, down from its close Thursday at 9,085.

The sale of Danamon, the country's fifth-largest lender, raised around US$187 million to help finance the budget. Half of the stake was sold to foreign investors via private placement, which attracted strong interest.

The rupiah was also helped by poor dollar sentiment around the world amid continued concern over the U.S.'s massive trade and budget deficits, dealers said.

Dollar demand from local importers, however, slowed the greenback's fall against the Indonesian currency.

"Local importers took advantage of the dollar's weakness to accumulate the currency," a dealer said.

Imports are expected to rise ahead of the year-end holiday festivities.

Dealers said the dollar will likely trade between 9,050 and 9,100 Monday.