Jakarta Index Ticks Up Despite Ongoing Global Market Volatility
Francezka Nangoy | November 24, 2011
JakartaGlobe
Indonesian stocks ended an up-and-down day on Thursday in positive territory amid uncertainty in global financial markets.
The Jakarta Composite Index added 9.02 points, or about 0.2 percent, to close at 3,696.03, paring Wednesday’s 1.3 percent decline. The benchmark was down as much as 0.8 percent and up as much as 0.3 percent in Thursday’s trading.
About 3.54 billion shares, valued Rp 2.88 trillion ($320 million), changed hands on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Gainers outnumbered decliners by 101 to 85.
Foreign investors sold Rp 201.25 billion more in shares than they purchased, turning net sellers a day after buying net Rp 346.09 billion.
“Our index’s rise was mostly due to a technical rebound. The sentiment in the market is still very fluctuative, causing high volatility,” said Deni Hamzah, an analyst at Corfina Capital in Jakarta.
He said Indonesia’s market changed direction and followed the regional market up in afternoon trade, after a report showed that business confidence in Germany had picked up.
Investors had been selling shares in emerging markets such as Indonesia to reduce risk.
They have been scooping up dollar-denominated assets on concern that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is widening.
Indonesia’s miscellaneous industry sector, which includes automotive retailers and shoemakers, gained 2 percent, boosted by Astra International.
The manufacturing sector rose 0.7 percent. The mining sector gained 0.5 percent. Bumi Resources, Indonesia’s largest coal producer, was up 2.5 percent, while gold producer Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam lost 0.9 percent.
The agribusiness sector fell 1.1 percent as crude palm oil futures continued slipping. Futures lost 1.7 percent in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
