Indonesia Stock Market Update: Profit Taking Continues
Despite generally rising stock markets across Asia - still being supported by upbeat manufacturing data that hint at an upturn in global economic growth this year - Indonesia is bucking the trend, sliding 1.37 percent in the first trading session on Wednesday (03/01).
It is assumed that investors continue to engage in profit taking after the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index hit one record after another in the last trading days of 2017. Yesterday, the first trading day of 2018, the benchmark index fell 0.26 percent to 6,339.24 points.
Blue chips that are experiencing the biggest losses so far today are Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Unilever Indonesia, HM Sampoerna, and United Tractors. The least affected sectoral index on the Indonesia Stock Exchange is the agriculture sector. It was down 0.1 percent by 13:45 pm local Jakarta time.
The Indonesian rupiah continued to appreciate. By 14:00 pm local Jakarta time, the rupiah had strengthened 0.26 percent to IDR 13,479 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index).
Bank Indonesia's benchmark rupiah rate (the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate, abbreviated JISDOR) appreciated 0.32 percent to IDR 13,498 per US dollar on Wednesday (03/01).
Indonesian Rupiah versus US Dollar (JISDOR):
| Source: Bank IndonesiaMeanwhile, General Chairman of the Indonesia Stock Exchange Tito Sulistio said he targets to see 35 initial public offerings (IPOs) on the local bourse in 2018, below last year's realization (37). This target includes ten foreign companies that draw 40 percent of their sales from Indonesia. Sulistio said there are at least 52 foreign companies that fall in that category. He added that it would be fair if those companies that gain a big chunk of their sales from Indonesia can be owned, partly, by the Indonesian people.
