Indonesia's Stock Exchange (IHSG) Ends Week on a New Record High
The pace of the upward movement of Indonesia's main stock index (IHSG) was beyond expectation. While American and European stock indices were weak on Thursday (16/05/13) and Hong Kong's HSI as well as South Korea's KOSPI were closed due to holidays, it did not bring a negative impact on the IHSG. Particularly consumer and coal miner stocks supported the IHSG's rise. At the end of Friday's trading day (17/05/13), the IHSG hit a new record high level: 5,154.68 points, an 1.32 percent increase.
Apart from investor appetite in Indonesia's consumer and coal miner stocks, the rise was supported by positive Asian stock indices as well as large-scale foreign buying of Indonesian stocks.
The IDR rupiah still weakened to the US dollar. John Williams, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, stated that there may be a possibility that the Federal Reserve will slow down its pace of bond purchases. This immediately triggered a rise in the US dollar. The Euro, on the other hand, weakened as various economic data that were published in Europe dragged the currency down.
| Source: Bank IndonesiaMost Asian indices were up, led by Japan's stock index after a report stated that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to increase capital spending for leasing companies. Moreover, Abe's strategy for economic growth includes supporting the nation's agriculture and infrastructure export through investments totaling 30 trillion Yen up to the year 2020. China's indices also gained as investors assume that China's government may not put constraints on its property sector as the country's economic growth has been relatively weaker recently.
In Europe there were few releases in term of economic data. Most European indices were up due to previous data reports from the US that were considered positive. Car manufactures in the Eurozone rose as in April the number of sold cars rose.
American indices were up after Consumer Sentiment Michigan and CB Leading Indicator were both above expectation. The volatility index also posted a decrease, which indicates that market volatility has been less fluctuating.
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