Soeharto-linked shares remain under pressure
Soeharto-linked shares remain under pressure
JAKARTA (JP): Shares of companies owned by former president
Soeharto's family and his cronies remained under selling pressure
yesterday.
Stockbrokers said most shares linked to Soeharto's family and
cronies dropped in the morning but managed to recover in the
afternoon as local investors started to take advantage of the low
prices.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) Composite Index fell 0.66
percent, or 2.74 points, to 414.22 on a total turnover of 178.05
million shares on the regular market worth Rp 208.58 billion
(US$20.8 million).
The brokers said most foreign brokerage houses continued to
discard shares linked with Soeharto and his close friends, such
as Liem Sioe Liong.
A broker with Mashill Jaya Securities said several foreign
brokerage houses, like Merrill Lynch Indonesia, Nomura
Securities, Jardine Fleming Securities and WICarr Securities,
dumped their stocks for almost the whole trading day.
The stock price of Liem's PT Indofood Sukses Makmur continued
under selling pressure in the morning but recovered in the
afternoon due to fresh buying from local investors. Indofood
stocks closed unchanged at Rp 1,675 with 14.09 million shares
changing hands.
Shares of PT Indocement Tunggal Perkasa (ITP), part of Liem's
Salim Group, also closed unchanged at Rp 2,900 after falling to
as low as Rp 2,600.
The stock prices of Bimantara Citra, controlled by Soeharto's
second son Bambang Trihatmojo, fell Rp 25 to Rp 300 on a total
turnover of 3 million shares.
Toll road operator PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP),
controlled by Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana,
saw its stock prices remain unchanged at Rp 375 on a total
turnover of 2.27 million shares after falling to as low as Rp 350
during the lunch break.
"Foreign investors are worried to hold on to these stocks for
fear that they will lose their value," a broker said.
The head of research at Socgen Crosby Securities Indonesia,
Goei Siauw Hong, told The Jakarta Post that business deals
involving Soeharto-linked firms and the Salim Group had undergone
close scrutiny by investors.
"People are starting to question their past business
irregularities since Soeharto is no long in power," he said.
President B.J. Habibie has vowed to root out collusion,
cronyism and corruption as part of his efforts to bring the
country out of its economic crisis.
The rupiah closed at 10,400 against the U.S. dollar in the
spot market yesterday, almost unchanged from its close at 10,500
the previous day, but off its day low of 11,000 during the lunch
break.
Currency dealers said rupiah trading remained thin since most
operators were reluctant to take any position due to the
political situation.
"Some people are sensing that the political uncertainty is not
over yet and that there will be more unrest," a dealer with a
local private bank said.
Positive results of the talks between Hubert Neiss, the IMF
director for the Asia-Pacific region, and the government are
expected to boost the rupiah's value against the American dollar
in the coming days.
"If results of the talks are positive, it should bring the
rupiah to between the 9,000 and 8,000 levels in the days ahead,"
the dealer said. (aly)