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Indonesian stocks gained ground on Tuesday as investors piled into big-cap names, leaving the benchmark index just below Friday’s record closing high.

The Jakarta Composite Index gained 17.97 points, or 0.59 percent, to close at 3,041.67, after reaching a high of 3,061 in morning trade.

Volume was on the heavy side, with five billion shares worth Rp 3.9 trillion ($432.9 million) changing hands. Gainers outnumbered losers 105 to 89.

The rupiah climbed for a fourth straight day — its longest winning streak in more than a month — and reached a six-week high after the government estimated the economy would expand more in the second half than it did in the first.

The economy likely grew 5.8 percent in the period ended June and could expand 6 percent in the second half, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.

The government also forecast its budget deficit would narrow to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product this year from 1.6 percent in 2009.

The rupiah edged up to 9,018 as of the stock market’s close, from 9,033 on Monday, after trading as high as 9,008 — its strongest level since June 22.

Inflation may pick up through the end of this year, the central bank said on Monday. Still, Bank Indonesia did not change its 2010 price-increase target of between 4 percent and 6 percent.

Consumer prices advanced 5.05 percent in June from a year earlier, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

“The overall sentiment has again shifted to taking on more risk,” said Joey Cuyegkeng, a Manila-based economist at ING, the Netherlands’ largest financial services company. “Concern over a significant slowdown in global growth was overdone.”

The JCI has climbed almost 20 percent this year as overseas investors have pumped $1.2 billion into the nation’s stocks as of Monday.

On the stock market, PT Astra International, the nation’s largest auto retailer, gained 1.4 percent after touching a record Rp 51,050 in earlier trade, due to strong sales in June and an improving outlook.

Astra has forecast nationwide vehicle sales of 650,000 this year, a 34 percent increase over last year.

Meanwhile, state-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia climbed 1.9 percent on expectations of good quarterly results.

Ahmad Riyadi, a capital markets analyst at PT Millennium Danatama Securities, said large-cap stocks were behind much of the JCI’s strength.

“The strength of domestic shares reflects investor confidence that the Indonesian economy will continue to have high, stable growth,” he said.