Bargain Hunters Push Indonesia’s JCI Up 34.75 Points After Yesterday’s Massive Fall

Jonathan Vit

Indonesian stocks rebounded on Friday, climbing up 0.86 percent after posting the biggest drop in two months, as bargain-hunting investors snapped up shares in mining companies after this week’s heavy slide.

The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index rose 34.75 points on the back of renewed interest in the nation’s massive mining sector. Bumi Resources gained 11.11 percent after shares plummeted to the lowest price since Feb. 2009 this week.

The company, Asia’s biggest power-station coal exporter, signed a deal to sell its 50 percent stake in an unlisted coal unit operated by Fajar Bumi Sakti for $200 million, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The sale bolstered investor confidence after Bumi posted a $332 million loss for the first half of 2012 earlier this week, casting doubt over its ability to repay $1.3 billion in loans to China Investment Corp. (CIC).

“It is probably bargain hunting, I don’t think you will see the full rebound or the end of the controversy surrounding Bumi,” Mastono Ali, an analyst at CIMB Securities in Indonesia, said. “I don’t see any major drivers coming up for the prices.”

Indonesia’s second-biggest coal producer Adro Energy and third largest tin exporter Timah enjoyed modest gains. Shares in Borneo Lumbung Energi & Metal remained flat.

Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s largest bank by assets, closed at Rp 7,700 on Friday, up 3.36 percent. The nation’s largest automotive company Astra International fell 0.74 percent, closing at Rp 6,750. State-owned cement producer Semen Gresik climbed 2.48 percent, shares in telecommunication firm Telekomunikasi Indonesia remained flat.

Asian markets were mixed on Friday as Japan released disappointing economic figures and investors held back ahead of US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech on a possible stimulus plan later in the day.