BEI INDEX OPENS LOWER ON PROFIT TAKING MOVES

Jakarta, Sept. 14 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here on Monday morning opened slightly lower on profit taking moves following rallies over the last five consecutive days.

The BEI index fell 16.662 points or 0.69 percent to 2,399.284 and the LQ-45 index weakened 4.043 points or 0.86 percent to 466.923 points.

The BEI Index depreciated because investors released their shares to take profit following rallies for five consecutive days and regional bourse gains, Alfiasyah, a stock broker of PT Sinarmas Securities, said.

The Indonesian stocks were also affected by regional bourses which lost, including Japan's Nikkei index which fell 257 points, he said.

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Monday, Led by declines in tech and auto stocks, analysts said. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 5.95 points, or 0.36 percent, to trade at 1,645.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The falls were led by large-cap tech and auto shares as investors pocketed profits from the sectors' recent powerful rallies.

He predicted that the BEI's morning trading would continue to be negative prompting the BEI index to fall.

The index movements would improve only when the Wall Street bourse would gain and help boost regional bourses, including BEI, he said.

Shares which lost included United Tractor that dropped Rp250 to Rp14,300, Astra Internasional shares that fell Rp200 to Rp31,400, Bukit Asam shares that slumped Rp150 to Rp13,500, Telkom shares that went down Rp50 to Rp8,400, Bumi shares that weakened Rp50 to Rp3,100, BRI shares that lost Rp150 to Rp7,500 and BCA shares which cut Rp100 to Rp4,300.

Meanwhile, the rupiah weakened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market here on Monday morning on profit taking moves. The Indonesian currency traded at Rp9,945-Rp9,960 per US dollar, down 33 points from that at the market's close last weekend.