Shares end up as Indofood, Aneka gain

Shares end up as Indofood, Aneka gain

Dow Jones, Jakarta

Indonesian shares ended marginally higher on Monday, with gains in nickel and gold miner Aneka Tambang and food maker Indofood Sukses Makmur driving the main index to a fresh closing high, dealers said.

"Buying faded later in the session, but the main index managed to stay in positive territory," a dealer with BNI Securities said.

They added that profit-taking by local retail investors weighed down overall sentiment.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index ended up 1.285 points, or 0.1 percent, at 1,093.78 points, reversing an earlier low of 1087.844.

Gainers led decliners 103 to 44, with 61 stocks unchanged.

Volume was 2.7 billion shares valued at Rp 2 trillion, compared with 1.85 billion shares valued at Rp 1.7 trillion on Friday.

Aneka Tambang rose 5.3 percent to Rp 2,200 on expectations of solid 2004 earnings due to an increase in commodity prices.

Foodmaker Indofood gained 3.3 percent to Rp 940 ahead of its plan to sell a stake in its flour mills unit Bogasari Flour Mills via an initial public offering in the first half of this year.

Also higher were shares of palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari, which gained 5 percent to Rp 3,125 also on expectations of solid 2004 earnings.

Profit-taking hit shares of bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia, which fell 1.6 percent to Rp 4,625, and Bank Negara Indonesia, which dropped 1.2 percent to Rp 1,690.

Dealers expect the market to trade slightly higher on Tuesday, with profit-taking in shares that gained in the previous six sessions likely to limit gains.

Meanwhile, the rupiah ended lower as local companies bought dollars to pay offshore debts falling due at the end of the month, dealers said.

The dollar closed at Rp 9,275, up from Friday's close of Rp 9,260.

"Dollar demand from local companies was quite healthy today (Monday)," said a dealer with a foreign bank.

Many local companies are saddled with huge foreign borrowings. Also, imports have been growing at a healthy rate since last year, which has boosted demand for the U.S. currency.

Dealers said market players have become cautious in building long-rupiah positions on concerns that the local currency will weaken if the government goes ahead with a plan to raise domestic fuel prices as this could lead to social unrest.

The government is expected to increase fuel prices by early April to cut subsidy costs. Although such a policy would likely be applauded by investors and analysts, it would be highly unpopular with local consumers.

Dealers expect the dollar to trade between Rp 9,250 and Rp 9,300 on Tuesday.