BEI INDEX OPENS 0.15 LOWER EARLY THURSDAY

Jakarta, March 12 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) opened slightly lower on losses suffered by bank shares.

The BEI index dropped 1.993 points or 0.15 percent to 1,312.526.
Bank shares fell following an appeal by the vice president to state-owned banks to lower their credit interest rates, Edwin Sinaga, a capital market observer, said here on Thursday.
State-owned banks must take the lead in cutting interest rates on credit in order to boost real sector growth, the vice president said.
Bank BCA shares fell from Rp4,400 to Rp4,325, Bank BNI shares went down from Rp690 to Rp680, Bank BRI shares tumbled from Rp4,075 to Rp4,025.
Astra Agro Lestari shares also plunged to Rp12,500 from Rp12,550 per share, and oil industry Medco shares dropped from Rp2,050 to Rp2,025 per share.
Indonesian stocks were under pressure also because investors released their shares which had gained for the two consecutive days earlier, following Middle Eastern telecommunication company Qtel's successful bid for PT Indosat Tbk. shares.
"We predict that the BEI index will continue to fall on losses in regional bourses," he said.
Regional bourses in Tokyo, Hong Kong and South Korea plunged early Thursday.