Stocks index fall 0.5%; Matahari, Astra slide
Stocks index fall 0.5%; Matahari, Astra slide
Naila Firdausi, Bloomberg/Jakarta
Indonesia's key stock index fell for the first day in seven. PT Astra International dropped on concern a plan to raise automobile taxes will slow demand for vehicles.
Consumer-related stocks such as PT Matahari Putra Prima declined on concern consumer spending is slowing after the government raised household fuel prices last month.
The Jakarta Composite Index lost 5.21, or 0.5 percent, to 1061.08 at the 4 p.m. local time close, ending a six-day, 4.8 percent advance. Declining stocks led gainers 43 to 40.
Indonesia, Asia's fourth-biggest vehicle market, will soon raise taxes on buyers of cars by as much as 10 percentage points to boost revenue, according to a decree signed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Oct. 25 and released by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday night.
"Consumers are already facing higher lending rates and the higher tax will further dampen auto demand," said Endarto, who helps manage the equivalent of US$20 million at PT Bhakti Asset Management in Jakarta.
Astra, Indonesia's biggest auto retailer, declined Rp 250, or 2.7 percent, to Rp 9,100, after jumping 13 percent in the earlier six days.
Matahari, Indonesia's biggest retailer by sales, lost Rp 50, or 4.7 percent, to Rp 1,010, its first decline in nine days. Matahari plans to open 19 hypermarkets and department stores next year, compared with 23 budgeted for this year, Director Danny Kojongian said on Tuesday.
PT Unilever Indonesia, the country's biggest maker of detergents and ice cream, slipped Rp 150, or 3.4 percent, to Rp 4,250. The government on Oct. 1 more than doubled, on average, fuel prices sold to retail users to prevent oil subsidies draining the nation's coffers.
PT Bank Danamon, Indonesia's fifth-largest lender by assets, lost Rp 125, or 3.2 percent, to Rp 3,775 as some investors judged recent gains excessive compared with earnings potential. The stock jumped 15 percent in the five days to Tuesday.
PT International Nickel Indonesia, the local unit of the world's second-largest nickel-mining company, Inco Ltd., dropped Rp 600, or 4.5 percent, to Rp 12,850. Nickel for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange dropped 2.5 percent to US$12,575 a metric ton on Tuesday, ending a three-day, 9.9 percent advance. The contract traded at $12,400 a ton at 9:14 a.m. London time.
PT Medco Energi Internasional, the country's biggest publicly traded oil and gas company, surged Rp 175, or 5.6 percent, to Rp 3,325, the biggest gain since Aug. 30. State oil and gas company PT Pertamina is in talks with Medco to build a liquefied natural gas plant in the eastern part of Sulawesi island. It will have a capacity of two million metric tons a year, Pertamina's Vice President Mustiko Saleh told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.
PT Semen Cibinong, Indonesia's third-largest cement maker by value, advanced Rp 15, or 3.3 percent, to 465. The company has set aside $10 million in cash to buy back debt, with the option to increase the amount by another $10 million, as it aims to cut its dollar-denominated borrowings and interest expenses, Corporate Secretary Jannus Hutapea said in a statement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange on Tuesday.