Jakarta shares jump on cabinet hopes

05 Oct, 2004

Jakarta stocks ended at fresh closing highs on Monday, powered by expectations Indonesia's incoming president will appoint a strong cabinet.
Lower-than-expected September inflation and strong gains in other Asian financial markets also helped sentiment, dealers said.
The Jakarta Composite Index jumped 2.46 percent to end at 856.45 points from Friday's record high. Share turnover was heavy at around 2.1 trillion rupiah ($231 million).
The index earlier logged a life high of 856.87 points.
Indonesia's election commission announced Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had won last month's presidential election run-off, crushing incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri in the country's first direct leadership ballot.
Yudhoyono has said his cabinet would mostly comprise professionals, unlike previous cabinets that drew heavily from Indonesia's major political parties, hindering cohesion and sparking divisions.
On Saturday, Yudhoyono said his ministers would sign accountability contracts - a sign that poor performing ministers may not last long.
Inflation in September was 6.27 percent, compared with analysts' estimates for 6.73 percent in a Reuters poll. August inflation was 6.67 percent.
Blue chip shares led the gains, with PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk, the country's largest telecoms firm, ending up 3.6 percent to 4,350 rupiah.
Indonesia's largest bank, PT Bank Mandiri Tbk, gained 5.2 percent to 1,525 rupiah.
Indonesia's rupiah was quoted at 9,100/9,105 to the dollar, slightly stronger than its late Friday level.

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