Jakarta stocks finished lower on Monday as investors locked in gains from the last week's surge, but dealers said the up-trend in the market should continue.
The Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.22 percent to 784.79 points in moderate trade estimated at 575.6 billion rupiah ($62 million).
The index saw heavy buying last week, gaining more than five percent to its highest level in more than four months. Some local analysts said the market could sustain further gains ahead of the presidential vote on expectations the process will run smoothly and end the uncertainty of a long election year which began with a parliamentary ballot in April.
Incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri faces her former chief security minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in the race for the country's top job. Among the decliners on Monday were the country's second-largest telecommunication company, PT Indonesian Satellite Corp Tbk, which lost 1.7 percent to 4,250 rupiah.