JAKARTA STOCKS OPEN STRONGER ON WALL STREET GAINS

Jakarta, Sept. 16 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here on Wednesday morning got off to a strong start on gains at Wall Street.

The BEI index went up 19.441 points or 0.47 percent to 2,431.400 points and the LQ-45 index surged 2.761 or 0.23 percent to 425.293 points.

The Indonesian stocks were boosted by bullish Wall Street trading which also boosted regional bourses, Alfiansyah, a stock broker of PT Sinarmas Securities, said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), for instance, climbed 17.46 points, or 1.06 percent, to trade at 1,670.86 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

U.S. shares extended gains Tuesday, boosted by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comment that the recession is over and positive manufacturing and retail data. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.59 percent to a yearly high of 9,683.41.

He predicted that the BEI index gains would continue until it would reach far above 2,400 points.

"We are optimistic that the index will continue to move upward as the positive sentiment is still dominating the market," he said.

Bukit Asam shares climbed Rp300 to Rp13,100, Astra Agro Lestari shares added Rp100 to Rp20,500, Bumi shares advanced Rp75 to Rp9,300 per share, United Tractor shares went up Rp50 to 14,000.

Meanwhile, the rupiah strengthened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market here on Wednesday morning. The local currency traded at Rp9,810-Rp9,825 per US dollar, up 85 points from Rp9,895-Rp9,900 per US dollar.