Shares up on late buying in Medco, Telkom stake

Shares up on late buying in Medco, Telkom stake

Dow Jones, Jakarta

Indonesian shares ended marginally higher on Friday as late
buying in oil and gas producer Medco Energi and a rebound in
Telekomunikasi Indonesia erased earlier losses, dealers said.

After staying in negative territory for most of the session,
the Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite index ended up 2.74 points,
or 0.3 percent at 1,096.93, up from an intraday low of 1,089.69.

"Sharp gains in Medco and Telkom lifted the main index from
its low," said a trader with Kuo Capital Securities.

Dealers said overall sentiment, however, remained weak and
cautious as lingering concerns over the nation's security in the
wake of bomb threats in the capital spurred further profit taking
by foreign funds.

Decliners led gainers 62 to 43, with 63 stocks unchanged.

Volume was 1 billion shares valued at Rp 968 billion, compared
with 848 million shares valued at Rp 715 billion on Thursday.

Medco jumped 17 percent to Rp 4,000 ahead of its plan to sell
a stake of around 40 percent through a secondary offering on the
Luxembourg bourse in the second half of this year.

Bellwether Telkom rose 1.1 percent to Rp 4,750 on a rebound
after a 0.5 percent fall on Thursday and on expectations that the
company will pay a higher 2004 dividend.

Shares in Gudang Garam, the nation's largest cigarette maker,
advanced 1.8 percent to Rp 12,200 on further buying after the
government Wednesday said it will only raise the minimum retail
price of cigarettes by 15 percent, compared with its initial plan
of a 20 percent increase.

Garam gained 1.7 percent on Thursday.

On the downside, automotive company Astra International
dropped 1.6 percent to Rp 12,450 on profit taking after sharp
gains earlier this week.

Bank Mandiri lost 1.3 percent to Rp 1,510 on expectations that
the bank's 2005 earnings will be hit by higher non-performing
loans. At the end of March, Bank Mandiri's net profit fell 70
percent on year due to higher bad loan provisions.

Dealers said they expect the market to rise on Monday led by
followthrough buying in Medco and Telkom.

Meanwhile, the rupiah also closed higher, thanks to Bank
Indonesia's steadfastness in defending the local unit, dealers
said.

The dollar closed at Rp 9,590, down from its close on Thursday
at Rp 9,610.

The greenback rose to an intraday high of Rp 9,655 due to a
combination of its global bullishness and local security concerns
after the Australian government warned of possible terrorist
attacks.

"We continue to receive a stream of credible reporting
suggesting that terrorists are in very advanced stages of
planning attacks in Indonesia," Australia's Department of Foreign
Affairs said in a warning posted on the department Web site.

"Attacks could occur at any time, anywhere in Indonesia and
could be directed at any locations known to be frequented by
foreigners."

Dealers said that Bank Indonesia unwound dollars to push the
greenback lower.

Bank Indonesia chief Burhanuddin Abdullah had said earlier
this week that the central bank would continue to intervene in
the local foreign exchange market to help the rupiah.

He, however, said that intervention is only a temporary
measure, urging the government to boost efforts to make the
country a net oil exporter again. He blamed the rupiah's weakness
on partly the high oil import bills.

Dealers said the dollar may try to test Rp 9,600 against next
week as its global bullishness still looks intact.