The Jakarta Composite Index rose to a record close on Tuesday, the last day of trading before the Idul Fitri holiday, while other Asian markets ended mixed.
The JCI advanced 13.74 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,230.89, marking a third-straight day of record results. Some 5.2 billion shares worth Rp 3.7 trillion ($411 million) changed hands.
The JCI advanced 13.74 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,230.89, marking a third-straight day of record results. Some 5.2 billion shares worth Rp 3.7 trillion ($411 million) changed hands.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 111 to 74. Foreign investors poured $166 million into the market in the shortened week at the end of Ramadan.
The market will be closed today for the Idul Fitri holiday, reopening on Sept. 15.
The Jakarta bourse, Asia’s second-best performer this year, has racked up inflows of $1.62 billion this year, already topping $936 million in full-year 2009.
Among the biggest gainers, auto-distributor Astra International, rose 2.1 percent, and Bank Danamon Indonesia jumped 4.7 percent.
Media Nusantara Citra surged 24 percent to Rp 390, its biggest increase since June 2009. The TV broadcaster’s shares had lagged the JCI but caught up amid a rally in media stocks, said Arief Budiman, an analyst at Phillip Securities Indonesia.
Perusahaan Perkebunan London Sumatra Indonesia, the second-largest listed plantation firm by market value, gained 1.6 percent as palm oil futures rose 1.8 percent in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
United Tractors, the top heavy equipment seller, rose 1.3 percent after it was upgraded to “hold” from “sell” by Sucorinvest Central Gani, citing a lower country-risk premium for Indonesia.
The rupiah fell 0.3 percent to 9,018 per dollar in Jakarta, its first fall in three days, on speculation the central bank would intervene to curb volatility in the currency before the holidays.
The currency retreated from a two-week high after Bank Indonesia Governor Darmin Nasution said he wanted to avoid raising rates and as a slide in the euro bolstered demand for dollars.
“The central bank wants to maintain low volatility before the holidays,” said Aris Setiawan, of Bank Chinatrust Indonesia. “There were concerns about the euro declining.”
The currency has risen 4.1 percent this year, the third-best performer among Asia’s most-traded currencies excluding the yen.
The central bank held its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 6.5 percent on Friday to support growth. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono targets an average 6.6 percent annual economic growth through the end of his term in 2014.
