Shares end down on profit taking

Shares end down on profit taking

Dow Jones
Jakarta

Indonesian shares ended lower on Tuesday led by profit-taking in
telecommunications stocks after recent rallies, according to
dealers.

Market sentiment, however, remains positive with some dealers
expecting a rebound on Wednesday.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index ended down 9.054
points, or 0.8 percent, at 1071.15.

Decliners led gainers 110 to 27, with 64 stocks unchanged.

Volume was 1.2 billion valued at Rp 1.1 trillion compared with
1.25 billion shares worth Rp 1.6 trillion on Monday.

"It's a healthy correction," a dealer said. "I think stocks
will rebound soon as long as the rupiah doesn't fall sharply
again."

The country's largest telephone company Telekomunikasi
Indonesia (Telkom) ended down 1.1 percent at Rp 4,600 and its
rival Indosat fell 1 percent to Rp 4,800 on profit-taking.

Bank Mandiri was also hit by profit-taking, edging down 2.3
percent to Rp 1,700, while cigarette maker Gudang Garam dropped 4
percent to Rp 14,000.

Dealers expect the market to slowly recover on Wednesday after
the index came off its intraday low of 1067.31 earlier on
Tuesday.

On the currency market, the rupiah closed higher on capital
inflows to the local stock market.

The dollar closed at Rp 9,458, down from its close on Monday
at Rp 9,480.

Dealers said foreign investors probably exchanged dollars into
the local unit to settle their recent purchases of local stocks.

The local stock market ended 0.8 percent lower on Tuesday
after gaining nearly 5 percent since the beginning of the month.

"Speculators also sold the dollar today as they didn't see any
strong reason as yet to drive it higher with the central bank
remaining resilient in defending the rupiah," a dealer with a
foreign bank said.

Bank Indonesia allegedly unloaded dollars via state banks
earlier on Tuesday to foil any attempt to push the greenback
higher amid its rise against the yen, dealers said.

Dealers expect the dollar to trade between Rp 9,550 and Rp
9,575 on Wednesday.

The market will wait to see if the central bank allows the
benchmark weighted rate of its one-month Sertifikat Bank
Indonesia notes to rise from 7.81 percent during a weekly auction
on Wednesday, making the rupiah more attractive.