Shares end flat; Index up on Mandiri gains

Shares end flat; Index up on Mandiri gains

Dow Jones Jakarta

Indonesian shares ended flat on Wednesday, with rebounds in Bank Mandiri and nickel miner International Nickel Indonesia keeping the main index in positive territory, dealers said.

Overall sentiment, however, remained cautious following declines in most Asian markets due to Wall Street's overnight losses, they added.

"There was nothing much going on here," said a trader with a local securities firm.

He said many investors stayed on the sidelines due to an absence of fresh leads.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index edged up 0.45 point to 1032.22.

Gainers led decliners 64 to 49, with 64 stocks unchanged.

Volume was 1.25 billion shares valued at Rp 1.4 trillion, compared with 1.6 billion shares valued at Rp 1.7 trillion on Tuesday.

Bank Mandiri, the nation's largest lender by assets, gained 3.5 percent to Rp 1,470 on a rebound after falling sharply earlier this week due to a corruption investigation into the bank's lending practices.

International Nickel Indonesia, or Inco, jumped 4.2 percent to Rp 13,700 on a rebound and as the company plans to invest $280 million to develop its business this year.

Among other gainers, Astra International rose 0.5 percent to Rp 10,700 on expectations of solid first-quarter earnings.

On the downside, bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia fell 1.1 percent to Rp 3,325 after its American Depositary Receipts fell 0.3 percent.

Dealers expect the market to trade higher on Thursday on further buying in bank blue chips.