Indonesia shares reached a record high on Thursday after Fitch Ratings upgraded the country's sovereign debt, but a fourth quarter loss by microchip packager STATS ChipPAC knocked the Singapore market lower. The top five bourses in Southeast Asia aim to form a Top 100 ASEAN Index this year in a bid to promote equities investment, the president of the Jakarta bourse said on Thursday. Erry Firmansyah, the president director of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, told Reuters that the plan, initiated by the Singapore exchange, would involved Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
"We are in an early stage of the talks. If we can launch it this year that's great.
The second half of this year would be the soonest," Firmansyah said.
"We hope it can promote Southeast Asian bourses and shares that are worthy to be there (in the index).
We want to attract foreign investors and funds to the region."
He declined to comment on the companies that might be included or the criteria that would be used for a company to be listed.
According to Firmansyah, cross trading between those bourses, with a total market capitalisation of more than $650 billion, would also be discussed.
Those exchanges, except Thailand, booked a strong gain in 2004, with Indonesia became the top performer in Asia.