Jakarta shares soar

Jakarta share prices closed 0.9 percent higher on Friday led by Telkom and select mining companies on expectations of stronger second half earnings, dealers said. They said higher realised domestic and foreign investment numbers also added to the positive sentiment which underpinned gains.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed up 19.12 points at 2,239.90 on volume of 7.15 billion shares valued at 3.30 trillion rupiah (350.95 million dollars). Gainers led decliners 117 to 61, with 54 stocks unchanged.
Actual domestic and foreign direct investments (FDI) in Indonesia during the first eight months of the year rose 123 percent from a year earlier to 11.70 billion US dollars, the government announced Friday. Concerns over the subprime problems in the US, which have been driving the selling pressure in recent weeks, appear to have subsided, BNI Securities analyst Muhammad Alfatih said.
"It seems that such concerns have begun to ease so investors returned to the market today (Friday). They accumulated stocks that are likely to post strong earnings this year, such as miners and telecom," he said. Bumi Resources surged for a third straight day after Merrill Lynch on Wednesday raised its 12-month target price for Bumi to 3,200 rupiah. Bumi closed up 125 rupiah or 4.5 percent at 2,900.
Telkom rose 200 rupiah to 11,150 while rival Indosat added 100 to 7,150. Morgan Stanley said Tuesday it is keeping its target price on Telkom at 12,250 rupiah per share due to stronger growth in cellular phone use at Indonesia's largest telephone operator.
It said the target price implies upside potential of around 10 percent on Telkom's current share price level. The brokerage firm also upgraded its target price for Indosat to 7,600 rupiah per share from 6,500 rupiah previously, citing expected improving earnings and stronger growth in Indosat's cellular subscriber base in the third quarter.
Nickel and gold miner Antam gained 75 rupiah to 2,375 on news that the company will jointly manage a bauxite mining project on the island of Borneo with Russia's Rusal. Bank Mandiri, the country's largest bank, rose 25 to 3,200, while Bank Negara Indonesia added 10 to 1,930 and Bank Rakyat Indonesia added 150 to 6,300.