JCI Continues Rally at Thursday's Close  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) continues its rally at the end of Thursday's close, up by 12.27 points as foreign investors lapped up shares in the Indonesian market.

The JCI closed higher by 12.27 points or 0.24 percent to trade at 5,145.31 points, while Top 45 (LQ45) Index also went up by 2.25 percent or 0.25 percent to close at 886.84 points.

"Foreign investors are providing the boost that the IDX needs to sustain an uptrend," said William Suryawijaya, an analyst for Asjaya Indosurya Securities, in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to the IDX's records, foreign investors booked a net buy of Rp552.751 billion throughout Thursday's trading session.

William added that positive expectations over Indonesia's economic fundamentals following the government's decision to cut fuel subsidies is fueling the growth of the IDX in recent days. The effect of the fuel subsidy cuts will become apparent once the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) releases Indonesia's latest economic data, which is slated to be released in early December.

"Technically speaking, the IDX will remain stable until the BPS releases its finding in early December, after which the IDX is expected to grow even more," said William, who predicted the IDX would hover between 5,119-5,178 points with a chance of more gains before the end of the week.

The IDX's records showed that there were 197,828 transactions, wherein 5.23 billion shares were traded with a total capitalization of Rp3.54 trillion. The shares of 169 companies went up, while 131 shares dipped and 101 shares remained stagnant.

Meanwhile across Asia, the Hang Seng Index slid by 107.70 points or 0.45 percent to close at 24,004.28 points, while the Nikkei also slid by 135.08 points or 0.78 percent to 17,248.50 points. Similarly, the Straits Times Index also slid by 8.70 points or 0.26 percent to 3,340.96 points.

ANTARA