Shares end up at record high on earning hopes

Shares end up at record high on earning hopes

Dow Jones, Jakarta

Indonesian shares ended higher on Tuesday, with further gains in
cigarette and telecommunication blue chips on hopes of robust
2004 earnings pushing the main index to a record closing high,
dealers said.

They also added that investors bought shares on expectations
that those companies with solid earnings will pay out a higher
2004 dividend.

"If buying continues, the main index may test solid resistance
at 1,080 later this week," said an analyst with a foreign
securities firm.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index ended up 16.467
points, or 1.6 percent, at 1,067.20.

Gainers led decliners 62 to 35, with 64 stocks unchanged.

Volume was 2.2 billion shares valued at Rp 1.78 billion,
compared with 1.5 billion shares valued at Rp 1.6 trillion on
Monday.

Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna, the nation's third-largest
cigarette producer, jumped 9.4 percent to Rp 8,150 on
expectations of higher 2004 net profit after the company reported
that 2004 sales rose 15 percent on year.

Sampoerna's rival Gudang Garam rose 1.2 percent to Rp 16,750.

Bellwether Telekomunikasi Indonesia gained 2.2 percent to Rp
4,750 and carmaker Astra International rose 3.5 percent to Rp
10,400.

These companies are expected to announce their 2004 earnings
later this month or in early March.

Dealers said they expect the market to trade higher on
Wednesday on follow-through buying in many blue chips.

Meanwhile, the rupiah ended lower as local banks bought the
dollar on expectations of gains in the U.S. unit after U.S.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivers semiannual
testimony to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday, dealers said.

The dollar closed at Rp 9,275, up from Monday's close at Rp
9,242.

"We bought the dollar on the expectation Greenspan will make
positive comments about the U.S. economy that will boost the
dollar," a dealer with a local bank said.

A dealer with a European bank in Jakarta said some foreign
investors also bought the greenback, likely to hedge their
derivative transactions.

Dealers expect the dollar to trade between Rp 9,250 and Rp
9,290 on Wednesday.

The local currency market will also be keen to see data on
Indonesia's gross domestic product, due on Wednesday.

An average estimate by six economists polled by Dow Jones put
Indonesia's economic growth at 5.1 percent on year in the
October-December period, accelerating slightly from 5.0 percent
in the third quarter.