BEI INDEX DOWN 0.93 PERCENT EARLY FRIDAY

Jakarta, Feb. 20 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) opened 12.290 points or 0.93 percent to 1,312.041 early Friday, on losses suffered by some blue-chip shares.

The BEI index tumbled as shares at regional bourses such as in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan also fell, Edwin Sinaga, president director of PT Financorpindo Nusa, said here on Friday.
The regional bourses weakened as stock trading in Wall Street was sluggish because investors were worried over the US government's stimulus package which was seen as unable to boost global economic growth.
As a consequence, some shares were down, including those of Telkom, Astra International, and Bank BCA.
Telkom shares went down Rp100 to Rp6,300 per share, Astra International shares decreased from Rp11,000 to Rp10,950 per share, and Bank BCA shares fell from RP2,575 to Rp2,525 per share.
Bank BRI shares dropped from Rp4,400 to Rp4,300 per share, and PT Gas Negara shares plunged from Rp2,000 to Rp1,975 per share.
Meanwhile, the rupiah's exchange rate fell 90 points against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market here on Friday morning, on high demand for the greenback.
The Indonesian currency traded at Rp12,050/12,060 per US dollar, down 90 points from Rp11,960/11,975 per US dollar in the market's close a day earlier.