Shares up on news of debt rollover plan
Shares up on news of debt rollover plan
JAKARTA (JP): Share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX)
rose slightly yesterday after falling for two consecutive days on
news of the rollover plan to tackle the country's mounting
private debt crisis.
Brokers said share prices remained under selling pressure in
the morning but bounced back slightly in late trade on news of
the debt rollover plan.
News that leading banks from Europe, Japan and the United
States had agreed to extend the payment of the principal of the
country's corporate debt brought fresh wind to the Jakarta
market.
The brokers said the positive debt news really ignited
investor sentiment in the local exchange on expectation that such
a plan would help Indonesian companies stay alive amid the
economic crisis.
"News of the debt rescheduling plan by the international
creditors really improved market sentiment," a broker with
Trimegah Securities said.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper reported yesterday that 13
banks from Japan, Europe and the United States were near to
reaching a final agreement on solving Indonesia's mounting
corporate debt crisis and would allow the Indonesian companies to
postpone the repayment of the principal for six months.
"Such news will give local corporates a chance to restructure
their foreign exchange debts," an analyst with WICarr Securities
said.
The JSX Composite Index closed up 2.44 points to 504.10
yesterday on a total turnover of 503.82 million shares on the
regular market valued at Rp 679.21 billion (US$80.83 million).
Brokers said that cigarette maker PT Gudang Garam led the
gainers on expectation that it would book better than expected
results for the first quarter of the year. Gudang Garam rose Rp
100 to Rp 11,175 on 2.2 million shares traded, food producer PT
Indofood Sukses Makmur rose Rp 575 to Rp 3,300 on 28 million
shares traded and PT HM Sampoerna rose Rp 75 to Rp 6,775 on
2.80 million shares traded yesterday.
As stock prices gained ground, the rupiah closed slightly
higher against the U.S. dollar in moderate trading yesterday as
the high interest rates in the domestic banking industry lured
more capital inflows into the country, currency dealers said.
The currency ended the day at 8,400 against the American
greenback, up 3 percent from its close at 8,600 the previous day.
Dealers said that most investors were bullish on the rupiah as
they could benefit from the higher interest rates offered by the
country's banks. (aly)