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.