Jakarta shares soar

Indonesian shares rose three percent on Wednesday due to better than expected first-quarter earnings among major banks, dealers said. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 48.28 points to 1,644.19.
"Most of the big banks and mining-related stocks have had a good day, also cement stocks and even some of the small caps, such as property, were up across the board," a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.
Bank Negara Indonesia rose 7.08 percent to 1,210 rupiah after its net profit in the first quarter jumped to 635 billion rupiah (58.42 million dollars) from 153 billion a year earlier. Bank Mandiri rose 5.05 percent to 2,600 rupiah after its first-quarter net profit jumped to 1.4 trillion rupiah from one trillion a year earlier.