JAKARTA STOCKS TUMBLE ON PROFIT TAKING MOVES

Jakarta, July 29 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here on Wednesday morning opened 4.971 points or 0.22 percent lower to 2,232.134 on profit taking moves.

The BEI index tumbled due to profit taking moves after the Indonesian stocks had rallied significantly over the past fews days, Muhammad Alfatih, a research analyst of PT BNI Securities, said here on Wednesday.

The decrease of the BEI index in Wednesday's morning trading was expected not to be too sharp, Alfatih said. "The plunge should not be over the level of 2,227 points," he said.

He predicted the BEI index would surge again as several corporates had reported good financial performances in the first semester of 2009 despite the prolonged global economic crisis.

Another factor which would boost the BEI index was the rupiah's position at the level of below of Rp10,000 per US dollar, he said.

The rupiah traded at Rp9,965 per US dollar on Wednesday morning, down 50 basis points from that at the market's close a day earlier.

Antam shares went down Rp25 to Rp2,125, Adaro Energi shares tumbled Rp10 to Rp1,260, state telecommunication company PT Telkom shares lost Rp100 to Rp8,850, Astra Agro Lestari shares fell Rp100 to Rp18,250, Indo Tambang Raya shares decreased Rp200 to Rp23,500.

The BEI index plunged due to the impacts of the US Wall Street with its Dow Jones index which closed 11.790 points of 0.13 percent lower to 9,096.719 on Tuesday evening.

The Wall Street loss also affected other regional bourses including South Korean stocks which traded 0.03 percent lower late
Wednesday morning as recent sharp gains prompted investors to pause.

Moving in a tight range, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)inched down 0.46 point to 1,525.57 as of 11:20 a.m.