BEI INDEX CLOSES SLIGHTLY DOWN LATE TUESDAY MORNING

Jakarta, Feb. 3 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) closed slightly lower in the bourse's morning session on Tuesday, as investors adopted a 'wait and see' stance.
The IHSG moved within a narrow range, namely between 1,300.339 and 1,313.489, and finally closed at the level of 1,308.941, down 1.702 point or 0.13 percent.
The trading pattern remained the same as a day earlier (Monday, 2/2) when investors were still waiting for developemnts in the US economy, Krisna Dwi Setiawan, a research analyst of PT Valbury Asia Securities, said here on Tuesday.
He said investors were still monitoring the impact of the global economic crisis and only made a few transactions.
The BEI index did not rise despite a report from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) that in January 2009 the national economy experienced a deflation rate at 0.07 percent, he said.
"Even if Bank Indonesia (the central bank) again cuts its key interest rate, there is no guarantee that it will help the BEI index to rise," he said.
Because of this condition, share trading activity in BEI was slow with the number of transactions recorded at only 11,156 involving 227.086 million shares worth a total of just Rp292.551 billion.
The Jakarta Stock movements tended to be balanced, with 37 shares that gained, 30 that lost, and 51 shares that remained static.
Among the shares that lost were Telkom which went down Rp100 to Rp5,900, Astra International shares that plunged Rp150 to Rp12,600, Timah (Tin) shares which tumbled Rp10 to Rp1,050 and Astra Agro Lestari shares that dropped Rp50 to Rp10,800.
Meanwhile, shares that gained included those of Indosat which surged Rp100 to Rp5,700, Bukit Asam Coal Mining that added Rp150 to Rp7,300, Bank BRI that advanced Rp25 to Rp4,375, and Bumi Resources which strengthened Rp10 to Rp510.
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