Indonesian share prices closed 4.5 percent lower on Thursday with trading dominated by fears rising inflation could weaken consumer buying and squeeze company profits, dealers said. The Jakarta Composite Index closed down 104.22 points at 2,237.97, its lowest level since mid-September 2007. The index has dropped 18 percent so far this year.
Volume was 5.16 billion shares worth 7.99 trillion rupiah (870.64 million dollars). Decliners led advancers 187 to 17, while 33 stocks were unchanged. The rupiah was trading at 9,220/9,225 to the dollar, against 9,210/9,215 late Wednesday.
"People might have been expecting that earnings growth would not be sustained so that stock prices should be discounted," said Elvira Tjandrawinata, an analyst at state brokerage Danareksa. Tjandrawinata said investors might have started to downgrade their earnings forecasts to price in lower gross domestic product (GDP) growth and higher inflation.
The central bank, Bank Indonesia, decided Thursday to leave its key interest rate steady at 8.0 percent for the fourth consecutive month. The BI senior deputy governor said the decision not to raise rates "reflected our concerns about rising prices, which have reduced people's purchasing power."
Among the big decliners, index heavyweight Telkom lost 3.0 percent at 9,400 rupiah, while rival Indosat shed 0.7 percent at 6,850. Most commodity stocks were lower amid worries that weak global demand could bring down commodity prices.
Coal producer Bumi Resources slid 8.4 percent to 4,900, palm oil company Astra Agro tumbled 9.0 percent to 20,750 and nickel miner Inco retreated 5.2 percent to 6,350. Interest rate-sensitive conglomerate Astra International skidded 7.7 percent to 19,800, Bank Central Asia dropped 1.6 percent to 3,025, and consumer goods producer Indofood slumped 9.9 percent to 2,050.