INDONESIAN STOCKS OPEN HIGHER ON WALL STREET RALLIES

Jakarta, Oct. 15 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) started higher here on Thursday morning as Wall Street continued to rally.

The BEI Index went up 8.330 points or 0.32 percent to 2,529.055 points, and the LQ-45 index surged 1.749 points or 0.27 percent to 496.177 points.

The Indonesian stocks rose over the past two consecutive days and passed the psychological level of 2,500 points, Alfiansyah, a stock broker of PT Sinarmas Securities, said.

The BEI index was expected to further surge to nearly the level of 2,600 points, he said.

The index gains were supported by increases in the prices of shares of Astra Group, banks and cigarette industries, he said.

Astra International shares rose Rp300 to Rp34,250, United Tractor shares advanced Rp200 to Rp16,200, cigarette company Gudang Garam shares added Rp150 to Rp14,400, cigarette company HM Sampoerna shares gained Rp50 to Rp10,400. Meanwhile, BNI, BCA and BPTN shares rose between Rp25 and Rp75 per share.

It was the first time the Dow had touched 10,000 since October 2008, that time on the way down. Cheers went up briefly when the Dow eclipsed the milestone in the early afternoon, during a daylong rally driven by encouraging earnings reports from Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The average closed at 10,015.86, up 144.80 points.

Hong Kong stocks were set to open 1.47 percent higher on Thursday, propped up by gains on Wall Street and as early Asian bourses opened firmer, Reuters reported.