`Stocks likely to keep rising'

`Stocks likely to keep rising'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Composite Index, which has risen over the past two
weeks, will likely continue to go up this week amid optimism that
the Iraq war will be short, a stock analyst said.

Hengky Sumarli, head of sales at Jakarta-based Tim Eng
Securities, said on Sunday the progress made by the U.S.-led
forces in Iraq over the past several days had led many people to
believe that the war would not last long.

"It is positive news for the market. I think the rising trend
(of the index) is likely to continue this week, but the market
will still move in a narrow range," Hengky told The Jakarta Post.

The latest reports said U.S.-led ground forces had taken
control of the Saddam Hussein International Airport outside of
Baghdad and were entering the capital.

The index closed two weeks ago above the 400 level at 404.43,
then rose again last week to close at 405.68.

Last week's daily volume averaged 207.14 million shares worth
Rp 177.482 billion (US$19.95 million), compared to 258.16 million
shares worth Rp 232.253 billion the previous week.

Hengky said, however, that even if it continued to rise, the
progress in the index would be limited because of the absence of
fresh leads at home and fears over the deadly Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

"SARS will not only hurt people's consumer confidence and the
tourist sector worldwide, but will also prompt fears that it will
negatively affect China's booming economy," he said.

The disease has claimed hundreds of lives worldwide, mostly in
China where it first appeared late last year.

It is feared that the disease could slow China's economy,
which would in turn further damage the already fragile world
economy.

In the currency market, the fact that antiwar rallies across
the country have remained peaceful will mean another solid
showing for the rupiah this week, a dealer said.

"Previous market concerns that the war could prompt a furious
backlash have been proven false. This will create a positive
sentiment for the rupiah," the currency dealer said.

He said the rupiah would hover between 8,885 and 8,910 to the
U.S. dollar this week, relatively the same range as the previous
week.

The rupiah closed last week's four-day trading slightly
stronger at 8,885 against the U.S. dollar, compared with 8,905
the week before.

Trading was closed on Wednesday because of a public holiday.