Shares of Perusahaan Gas Negara, Indonesia's largest natural gas transportation and distribution company, have been performing in a very volatile manner so far in 2018. While in late February 2018 the company's shares had surged 55.43 percent to IDR 2,720 per share since the year-start, some five months later the same shares plunged to IDR 1,525 a piece (down 12.86 percent since the start of the year). What is going on with Perusahaan Gas Negara that can explain this volatile stock performance?

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Chief executive officers (CEOs) in Indonesia have become slightly less optimistic about the Indonesian economy and politics. This makes sense considering the presence of simmering global trade tensions, sharp rupiah depreciation against the US dollar, and Bank Indonesia's recent series of interest rate hikes.

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One of the national industries that is heavily affected by the weak rupiah exchange rate is Indonesia's pharmaceutical industry. Considering around 90 percent of raw materials in the pharmaceutical industry need to be imported from abroad (in US dollars), production costs rise sharply in times of significant rupiah depreciation. It is estimated that materials imported from abroad account for about 75 percent of pharmaceutical companies' total production costs.

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One of the companies, listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, that is experiencing a very good performance so far in 2018 is vertically integrated and diversified mining and metals company Aneka Tambang, a state-controlled entity. Not only did the company's corporate earnings and production figures surged in the first quarter of 2018 on the back of stronger commodity prices (and rising demand), but shares of Aneka Tambang also soared - by a whopping 45.60 percent - up to Friday (22/06).

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