BEI INDEX PLUNGES ON SHARE LOSSES

Jakarta, Aug. 12 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here early Wednesday plunged on share losses.

The Indonesian stocks lost 24.429 points or 1.03 percent to 2,374.609 and the LQ-45 index fell 5.739 points or 1.21 percent to 465.752.

The regional bourse's slumping down affected Indonesia's bourse to weaken, Krisna Dwi Setiawan, analyst of PT Valbury Asia Securities, said here on Wednesday.

Profit taking moves by investors prompted the world bourses to fall after rallies over the past one week, he said.

The current losses were normal as the BEI index had reached the level of 2,400 points earlier, due to the global market's positive sentiment, he said.

However, Setiawan believed that the BEI index still had a chance to move upward to 2400 points as foreign investors believed that the global economic growth would get better.

Telkom shares declined Rp200 to Rp8,700, Bumi shares fell Rp200 to Rp7,300, Bank BRI shares lost Rp100 to Rp3,500, BCA shares decreased Rp100 to Rp4.300, INCO shares went down Rp100 to Rp4,900 and Astra shares dropped Rp100 to Rp31,200 per share.

He was also optimistic that foreign investors wold remain active inthe domestic stock market as they still considered Indonesia as more profitable market than other Asian countries.