JAKARTA STOCKS CLIMB 1.08 PCT FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Jakarta, July 24 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here on Friday afternoon closed 1.08 percent higher at nearly 2,200 points on rallies at regional bourses and Wall Street.

The BEI index closed 24.550 points or 1.08 percent higher at 2,184.356, and the LQ-45 index went up 5.782 points or 1.37 percent to 428.078 points.

The market's positive sentiment continued to occur bolstering blue chip as well as small-cap shares to surge, according to Alfiansyah, a stock exchange broker of PT Sinarmas Securities.

If the favorable market condition would continue, the BEI index was expected to reach 2,200 points, he said.

The better domestic economic indicators prompted investors to buy shares, as they believed that Indonesia could give them better profits than other countries, he said.

Astra Internasional shares jumped Rp300 to Rp27,700, state telecommunication company shares climbed Rp300 to Rp8,500, and United Tractor shares advanced Rp200 to Rp11,500. Other companies' shares which significantly gained at BEI late were those of Medco, Indosat, and Gudang Garam.

Meanwhile, in the morning trading, the IHSG at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) opened slightly higher here on Friday morning, as investors continued to buy shares on gains at regional bourses.

The BEI index rose 0.71 percent or 15,375 points to 2,176.149 and the LQ-45 index went up 0.83 percent or 3.522 points to 425.791.

The rupiah surged against the US dollar at the Jakarta interbank spot market, here on Friday afternoon, moving far away from the level of Rp10,000 per US dollar as investors continued to buy the local currency.

"The rupiah purchases by investors have bolstered the rupiah to climb far away from Rp10,000 per US dollar," Edwin Sinaga, a domestic money market observer, said here on late Friday.

The Indonesian currency traded at Rp9,983-Rp10,000 per US dollar, up 45 points from Rp10,028-Rp10,035 per US dollar at the market's close a day earlier.