Jakarta shares sag

23 Aug, 2006

Jakarta share prices closed 0.19 percent lower on Tuesday amid profit-taking led by Perusahaan Gas Negara after the market posted significant gains early last week, dealers said. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 2.739 points at 1,435.029 on volume of 1.12 billion shares valued at 2.00 trillion rupiah (220.46 million dollars).
Losers outnumbered gainers 79 to 44, with 60 stocks unchanged. The rupiah was trading at 9,067/9,072 to the dollar against Friday's closing level of 9,065/9,080. Indonesian markets were closed for a public holiday on Monday.
"What happened today is a normal market correction. Our market sought to adjust to developments in regional and global markets following the long weekend," Felix Sindhunata, head of research at Mega Capital said.
He said concerns about the impact of the Bank of China's latest interest rate hike contributed to Monday's decline in most regional markets. "Investors are concerned that the move may lead to a slowdown in China's economy which may in turn have a negative impact on regional economies including ours," Sindhunata said.
Among major stocks, state gas firm PGN dropped 750 rupiah to 12,850 and carmaker Astra International also fell 50, closing at 11,950. Telkom was flat at 8,000 while long distance operator Indosat gained 200 to 4,925.
Medco Energi was up 50 at 3,500 and rival Aneka Tambang rose 550 to 5,900.
Bank Rakyat Indonesia gained 125 to 4,600 but rival Bank Mandiri dropped 25 to 2,075.

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