Stock index rises as BRI, BNI climb

Stock index rises as BRI, BNI climb

Naila Firdausi and Arijit Ghosh, Bloomberg/Jakarta

Indonesia's stock index rose, reversing earlier declines. PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia led gains by lenders after the yield at the central bank bill sales remained unchanged, easing concern interest rates may increase.

The Jakarta Composite Index added 2.43, or 0.2 percent, to 1,164.14 at the 4 p.m. close, after earlier declining as much as 0.3 percent. About three shares rose for every two that fell. The measure is set for a 16 percent gain this year, its fourth straight annual advance.

Bank Rakyat, the nation's fourth-largest lender, climbed Rp 50, or 1.7 percent, to 3,025. PT Bank Negara Indonesia, the nation's third-largest lender, added Rp 40, or 3.2 percent, to Rp 1,300. PT Bank Central Asia, Indonesia's biggest lender by market value, rose Rp 25, or 0.8 percent, to Rp 3,375.

The yield on Indonesia's one-month central bank bills was 12.75 percent at auction on Wednesday, unchanged from previous weekly sales, the central bank said.

"We will keep interest rates unchanged through the rest of the year," Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah told reporters. "We will evaluate the rate when we meet again in January."

PT Kalbe Farma, Indonesia's biggest drugmaker by sales, added Rp 50, or 5.3 percent, Rp 1,000. The company has risen 8.7 percent since Dec. 20 after saying it completed combining operations with PT Enseval and unit PT Dankos Laboratories, increasing its market capitalization by a third to about $1 billion.

Shares valued at Rp 405.4 billion ($41 million) traded, 57 percent lower than the six-month daily average of Rp 944.3 billion.

PT Astra Agro Lestari slid Rp 200, or 3.9 percent, to Rp 5,000. Palm oil for March 2006 delivery fell 3 ringgit, or 0.2 percent, to 1,412 ringgit a metric ton on the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange.

"Astra Agro is relatively expensive given the outlook on palm oil prices," said Prayoga Triyono, head analyst at PT Henan Putihrai in Jakarta.

"Also, the industry is maturing and may not grow as much it had earlier."

PT Petrosea, an Indonesian unit of Australia's Clough Ltd., rose Rp 600, or 9.7 percent, to Rp 6,800 on the company's plan to buy back as much as 10 percent of its shares.

PT Unilever Indonesia rose Rp 50 rupiah, or 1.2 percent, to Rp 4,250.

The stock was raised to "buy" from "hold" by Ben Santoso, an analyst at PT Namalatu Cakrawala. Santoso expects the shares to rise to Rp 5,225 in 12 months.