Jakarta Index Opens Lower

Jakarta, Jan 17 (Antara) - The Jakarta composite index opened lower on Friday on profit taking. The index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange fell 4.12 points or 0.09 percent to 4,408.37 points with index of 45 mots liquid stocks down 0.14 percent to 745.32 points. "Profit taking again put a brake on upward move of the BEI index," chief researcher of Trust Securities, Reza Priyambada, said here. Reza said the BEI index movement tended to be determined by the the condition in the regions where the majority of the markets are experiencing a correction. In addition the rupiah exchange rate tended to be negative adding to the negative sentiment in the stock market, he said. "In the Friday`s trading the BEI index is expected to move around 4,385--4,432 points," he predicted. Head of Research Valbury Asia Securities, Alfiansyah, said the correction experienced by the BEI index was temporarily as investors wanted short term profit. "The Indonesian economic prospects are encouraging. Bank Indonesia estimated that the country chalked up a surplus of US$785 million in December, up slightly from November`s surplus of US$776.8 million," he said. He said the improvement made in the trade balance is attributable to a rise in commodity prices after a decline earlier. Regional markets such as Hang Seng posted a decline of 0.37 percent in index to 22,900.82 points with Nikkei index down 0.78 percent to 15,624.60 points and that of Straits Times falling 0.68 percent to 3,119.15 points.