Jakarta share prices closed 0.51 higher Thursday, driven by Wall Street's rebound overnight, with gains led by Telkom and Indosat on expectations of strong first half results, dealers said. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed up 11.499 points at a fresh all-time high of 2,284.916, off an all-time intraday high of 2,298.369 and a low of 2,278.604.
Volume was 4.77 billion shares valued at 4.2 trillion rupiah (463.42 million dollars). Gainers led decliners 109 to 94, with 62 stocks unchanged. The rupiah was trading at 9,053/9,063 to the dollar, compared to 9,030/9,040 late Wednesday.
"It was telecom stocks, in particular Telkom and Indosat, that drove our market higher today. I think investors were buying these stocks on expectation that they will report strong first half results," Henan Putihrai analyst Prayoga Ahmadi Triyono said. He said the overall market sentiment was "positive", boosted by gains on Wall Street overnight and some key regional markets.
Index heavyweight Telkom surged 300 rupiah to 10,900 and rival Indosat added 100 to 7,450. Plantation company Astra Agro rose 200 rupiah to 14,850 on a media report that the company posted strong first half net profit.
Bisnis Indonesia reported earlier Astra Agro's net profit rose to 682.5 billion rupiah in the first half, or up 65 percent, from a year before driven by the rise in crude palm oil (CPO) prices. Sales increased by 28 percent to 2.39 trillion rupiah.
Consumer goods producer Unilever Indonesia rose 200 rupiah to 7,050. Construction company Adhi Karya surged 110 to 1,360 following its announcement Wednesday that it has established a subsidiary firm in Oman called ADHI Oman LLC as part of its move to expand its presence in the Middle East construction market. Among the losers, Semen Gresik lost 1,700 to 52,800 on news that domestic cement consumption fell to 2.77 million tonnes in June from 1.91 million tonnes in May.
Indonesian Cement Association chairman Urip Timuryono said Thursday that he is still uncertain about the main reason for the decline, but suspects that it is partly due to some delays in cement purchase due to the school holiday that started in mid-June.