Share Prices Expected To Rise After Morning Fall

Jakarta, July 26 (ANTARA) - After a slight fall in Thursday`s opening, the composite share price index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange is predicted to rise to follow global trend. The index fell 0.05 percent to 3,998.65 points in today`s opening with the index of 45 most liquid stocks down 0.08 percent to 678.25. The index is expected to rise again to as high as 4,055 to follow the global market trend such as Dow Jones, Dax-Frankfurt and CAC-Paris, Edwin Sebayang, chief analysts of MNC Securities said here Thursday. "In addition the index would be shored up by a rebound in the prices of crude oil and gold," Edwin said. James Wahjudi, an analyst from Sinarmas Sekuritas predicted mixed movements of index in the range of 3,975-4,025 points. James said U.S. new housing sales data released for June 2012 would help determine the index movements. The fall of the index this morning followed the release of US economic data showing a decline in new house sales Christine Salim, an analyst from Samuel Sekuritas, said the release showed 0.8 percent fall in new house sales in June giving a negative sentiment. The condition was worse with shrinking "business confidence index" in Germany and a 0.7 percent contraction of the Britain`s GDP in the second quarter. Christine, however, also predicted index increase to follow the trend in regional market. Hang Seng recorded a 0.01 percent increase in index to 18,879.38, Nikkei-225 up 0.43 percent to 8,402.17 and Straits Times rose 0.26 percent to 3,007.71. Major stocks worth noting in today`s trading include PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGAS), PT Astra International Tbk (ASII), PT Charoen Pokphand Indonesia Tbk (CPIN), PT Gudang Garam Tbk (GGRM) and PT Mitra Adiperkasa Tbk (MAPI) he said.