Stock market likely to be flat this week: Analysts
Stock market likely to be flat this week: Analysts
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although the Jakarta stock market dropped by more than 3 percent
last week, shares may not necessarily be quick to rebound as
investors will likely adopt a cautious stance while they wait for
fresh leads from home and overseas, analysts said.
Stock analyst Eddy Widjojo told The Jakarta Post over the
weekend that without any fresh leads, the Jakarta Stock Exchange
Composite Index would be flat this week.
"Investors are waiting for new incentives," he said.
News of companies' financial performances, which often move
the market, have largely been discounted by investors as most
blue chip firms have reported their first semester financial
results.
The composite index ended last week at 443.674, down 14.597
points or 3.2 percent from the previous week's level.
Last week's daily volume averaged 284.22 million shares worth
Rp 237.7 billion (US$26.8 million) compared to the previous
week's 616.42 million shares valued at Rp 375.74 billion.
Eddy said that without any fresh leads, the market would
likely remain flat this week.
He predicted that the index would hover between 440 and 460.
Arwani, another stock analyst, agreed with the figures.
"People are waiting for factors that could trigger the market
to become bullish," he said.
He said, however, that sentiment could turn positive if the
government carried out the planned privatization of state-owned
telecommunications firm PT Indosat and pharmaceutical company PT
Indofarma.
Indosat is a listed company. The government plans to complete
the privatization of the two firms in September.
Turning to the rupiah, currency analyst Farial Anwar expected
the local currency to be moving within a narrow and familiar
range, just as it has been for the past couple of weeks.
"There is no big news in the meantime that can trigger the
market," Farial of the Currency Management Group told the Post.
He expected the local currency to hover within the range of Rp
8,800 to Rp 8,500 to the U.S. dollar this week.
Last week, the rupiah closed at Rp 8,840 against the U.S.
dollar, compared to Rp 8,885 the week before.