Stocks plunge 3.2% amid heavy selling pressure
Stocks plunge 3.2% amid heavy selling pressure
JAKARTA (JP): Share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX)
plunged further yesterday, losing 3.2 percent due to heavy
selling pressure from foreign investors.
Securities brokers said foreign investors mostly sold their
stocks during the first trading day of the new 1998/99 fiscal
year, which began yesterday.
A broker with Harita Securities said that most foreign
brokerage houses, including ING Barings Securities, Credit
Lyonnais Securities, Jardine Fleming Nusantara and Merill Lynch
Securities were all on the selling sides.
"Most foreign brokerage houses were net sellers in yesterday's
trading," he said.
Securities analysts said the market feared that the talks
between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team and government
officials would not deliver a concrete solution to the private
sector's mounting offshore debt crisis.
"The market wants to see clear-cut measures to solve the
country's debt-ridden companies," the analyst said.
The JSX Composite Index ended 17.48 points lower to close at
523.94 points yesterday.
Around 632.63 million shares changed hands on the regular
market. Their value was Rp 749.10 billion (US$88.12 million).
As stock prices fell, the rupiah closed slightly firmer at
8,550 against the U.S. dollar on market expectation that talks
between the IMF and the Indonesian government would reach a
positive result this week.
Yesterday's close was 0.6 percent higher than Monday's close
at 8,600.
The country's financial markets were closed Tuesday to mark
the end of the 1997/1998 fiscal year.
A stronger U.S. dollar battered other stock markets in the
region triggering selling on Tokyo's stock market, with the yen
dipping to a near three-month low, and most other regional
bourses following, dealers said.
In Tokyo, the key Nikkei stock average of 225 selected issues
dropped 285.51 points to end at 16,241.66.
In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index lost 187.26 points to
close at 11,331.42.
In Australia, the All Ordinaries index, rose 8.7 points to
2,752.9. The All Industrials index climbed 17.1 points to
4,719.1, while the All Resources index edged up 1.6 points to
1,184.5.
In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Industrials index
fell 29.06 points to 1,600.12. The broader All-Singapore index
fell 9.65 points to 409.49.
In Kuala Lumpur, the 100-share weighted composite index fell
19.47 points to end at 700.05.
In Bangkok, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) broad based
index fell 2.54 points to close at 456.57 points, while the SET
50 index of selected stocks dropped O.19 points to finish at
33.08 points.
In Manila, the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index shed
29.05 points to close at 2,209.37 points.
In Seoul, the composite index closed down 12.82 points at
468.22, the lowest of the day.
In Shanghai, the B share index lost 0.14 points to close at
53.83 points. The A share index of locally-traded stocks ended up
12.91 points, or 0.98 percent, at 1,324.96.
In Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index
dropped 49.66 points to 9, 041.50.
In New Zealand, share prices rose 1.9 percent, with the NZSE-
40 index losing 44.45 points to close at 2,332.72.