BEI Index Down on Monday Morning

Jakarta, Oct 1 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) opened trade this morning with share prices falling to follow the trend in the regional market which shrank as a result of Chinese manufacturing performance weakening. The BEI index dropped 0.30 percent to 4,249.68 points with the index of 45 most liquid stocks losing 0.45 percent to 728.49 points. "The majority markets in Asia fell as a result of shrinking performances of Chinese and Japanese manufacturing sectors," Samuel Sekuritas` analyst Sally Agustina said here on Monday. Sally said corrections were also recorded in the oil prices down to US$91.6 per barrel this morning from US$92.2 in last week`s closing. He predicted the BEI index is vulnerable to profit taking today after a rally of 2 percent in two trading days earlier. Today, the market also expects announcement by the government of the country`s September`s inflation , which is estimated at 0.26 percent month-on-month and 4.6 percent yoy. Hang Seng index gained 0.38 percent to 20,840.38, but that of Nikkei-225 dropped 0.83 percent to 8,796.82, and that of Straits Times weakened 0.46 percent to 3,046.92 points.