BEI INDEX RISES 0.19 PERCENT EARLY TUESDAY

Jakarta, March 10 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here early Tuesday opened 0.19 percent or 2.477 points higher at 1,289.170 on gains made by agricultural and automotive industry shares.

Astra International shares sharply rose to Rp11,350 per share from Rp11,250 per share, or up Rp100 per share, President Director of PT Financorpindo Edwin Sinaga said here on Tuesday.
The advances of the automotive industry shares boosted the BEI index which had earlier tumbled on Wall Street setbacks, he said.
Astra Agro Lestari shares rose significantly to Rp12,850 per share from Rp12,050 per share, Bank BCA shares from Rp2,575 per share to Rp2,625 per share, and Bank BRI shares from Rp3,850 per share to Rp3,900 per share.
Astra Agro Lestari shares had advanced thanks to a 34.25 percent increase in Indonesian CPO exports to European Union countries in two consecutive months, he said.
The main factor which also caused the BEI index to go up was consolidation after the Jakarta stocks had plunged during the past few days on losses suffered by Japanese Nikkei shares, he said.
The Nikkei index-225 tumbled following a report that Japanese exports had dropped by nearly 50 percent, he said.