Indonesian share prices closed 1.20 percent lower Friday on persistent concerns that another fuel price increase this year would drive up inflation and interest rates, dealers said. They said blue chip firms Telkom and Astra International were leading the market's fall.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 14.003 points at 1,153.969 on volume of 1.28 billion shares valued at 1.74 trillion rupiah (178.4 million dollars).
The rupiah was at 9,800/9,810 to the dollar compared to Thursday's level of 9,820/9,825.
"There's a lot of bad news," said Equity Development Securities analyst Nugraha Adi.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla has said the government may have to raise fuel prices again after world oil prices soared to record high levels. The last domestic fuel price rise was in March.
Another increase in fuel prices would drive up inflation and force Bank Indonesia to accelerate its interest rate hikes, Adi said.
"We're talking about a decline in consumer purchasing power while higher interest rates would mean companies will not be able to borrow cheaply anymore," he said.
He said banking stocks were down as were blue chips Telkom and Astra International.
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