Jakarta share prices closed 1.6 percent higher on Monday, led by Telkom and banking stocks as sentiment was bolstered by the rupiah's firming, Wall Street's recent gains and mostly upbeat regional markets, dealers said.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index was up 14.239 points at 1,351.649 on volume of 1.07 billion shares valued at 1.27 trillion rupiah (139.94 million dollars).
Gainers led decliners 68 to 40, with 71 stocks unchanged. The rupiah was firmer at 9.065/9,075 to the dollar against Friday's level of 9,090/9,100. The market's performance was mainly driven by companies' first-half results, said Arya Satya Graha, an analyst with Trimegah Securities.
"The main driver of the market today (Monday) was earnings. If you look at stocks that were moving up, it had something to do with their results," he said, adding that banks' first-half results were mostly in line with expectations. Among the banks that saw gains were Bank Mandiri, Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia.
He said cement stocks, in particular Semen Gresik and Inducement, rose on the back of their improved first-half performance. "But the increased cement demand was partly due to demand for reconstruction in disaster areas, not because of a property boom," he said. Gains in regional markets and the firmer rupiah also provided additional support, he said.
Among major stocks, Telkom was up 50 rupiah at 7,450 while rival Indosat was down 50 at 4,275. Astra International was down 50 at 9,600 after reporting lower first half net profit. Perusahaan Gas Negara was up 400 at 11,800, Aneka Tambang was up 100 at 5,200 and Medco was up 50 at 3,800.
Bank Mandiri was up 20 at 1,760, Bank Central Asia was up 150 at 4,175 and Bank Rakyat Indonesia was also up 25 at 4,275 after the release of its higher first-half results.