Jakarta shares sag

Indonesian shares tumbled 3.1 percent on Thursday, hurt by the weakness of the rupiah and falls across Asian markets, dealers said. The Jakarta Composite Index fell 42.54 points to a two-year low of 1,337.20 in thin trade, off an intraday low of 1,313.270.
"Bargain buying by some local institutional funds in some blue chip stocks helped lift the main index from its low," a trader told Dow Jones Newswires. Indonesia's main index has fallen 51 percent since the start of 2008. Top decliners included cement maker Indocement, which fell 9.6 percent to 4,475 rupiah, while coal miner Indo Tambangraya dropped 9.6 percent to 9,000, and Bank Rakyat slumped 7.1 percent to 3,625 on fears of a poor earnings outlook. The rupiah slipped to 9,955 to the dollar against 9,910 previously.