Telkom, Bank Mandiri drive shares up

Telkom, Bank Mandiri drive shares up

Shares ended marginally higher on Friday as late foreign buying in select bank and telecom blue chips reversed earlier losses, dealers said.

Softer on-month inflation in August and expectations that the forthcoming presidential runoff would proceed peacefully spurred some foreign investors to continue buying Indonesian stocks, they said.

The consumer prices index rose only 0.09 percent on month in August from 0.39 percent in July, while on-year inflation was softer at 6.67 percent in August, compared with 7.20 percent in July, said the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

After staying in negative territory for most of the session, the Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite ended up 6.219 points, or 0.8 percent, to hit a fresh four-month high at 786.490.

Gainers led decliners 66 to 37, with 81 stocks unchanged. Volume was 1.35 billion shares valued at Rp 777 billion.

Bellwether PT Telkom rebounded from an earlier low of Rp 8,000, to end the session up Rp 100, or 1.2 percent, at Rp 8,200 on the company's 2-for-1 stock split expected later this month.

PT Indosat gained Rp 25, or 0.6 percent, at Rp 4,325 on bargain hunting.

The nation's largest lender Bank Mandiri maintained its gains, up Rp 25, or 1.9 percent, at Rp 1,350 on news that the bank plans to buy stakes in other regional banks to improve its performance.

Bank Negara Indonesia, the nation's third-largest bank in terms of assets, ended up Rp 50, or 4.4 percent, at Rp 1,200 on bargain hunting.

Dealers said they expect the market Monday to trade slightly lower on profit taking after recent gains.

Meanwhile, the rupiah closed steady as foreign names continued to realize their gains after the dollar rose earlier this week, dealers said.

The dollar ended at Rp 9,278, barely changed from its close of 9,280 Thursday. The greenback hit an intraday low of 9,265. -- Dow Jones