Indonesian shares closed up 0.1 percent after a volatile session on Wednesday, with gains in index heavyweights offsetting falls in select miners and plantations, dealers said. The market was higher in early trade, tracking Wall Street's gains overnight, but market players locked in gains in late trade ahead of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's speech later Wednesday.
A lacklustre performance by European shares also weighed on sentiment. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed up 1.27 points or 0.1 percent at 2,740.14, off a high of 2,765.56 and a low of 2,730.79 on volume of 4.0 billion shares valued at 5.56 trillion rupiah (606 million dollars). Decliners led gainers 99 to 84, with 74 stocks unchanged.
The Indonesian rupiah was trading at 9,048/9,058 to the US dollar, compared to 9,090/9,095 late Tuesday. The lacklustre performance of European shares prompted investors to make quick profits from last week's rally and Wednesday's firm opening, said Christine Salim, analyst at Samuel Securities.
"Market players may have also opted to realise profits on caution ahead of Fed chairman Bernanke's speech later tonight (Wednesday)," she said. "From a technical point of view, many shares have been overbought following the gains of recent weeks, so I'm not surprised that market players decided to realise profits today," Salim said.
Mining contractor Darma Henwa surged 60 rupiah to 630 on expectations miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara will proceed with plans to divest a 10 percent stake in the company. Darma Henwa is among the companies bidding for the stake. Index heavyweight Telkom rose 150 to 10,100 and coal producer Bumi Resources rose 150 to 7,900. Indonesia's largest bank by assets, Bank Mandiri, fell 25 to 3,250 and Bank Central Asia lost 75 to 3,575.
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