Yohanes Obor & Bloomberg

The market’s recent downturn has apparently exhausted traders at the Indonesia Stock Exchange. (Antara Photo)

Bears Still Control Indonesia's Market

Indonesian stocks tumbled again on Monday before a surge of late buying by bargain hunters lifted the market off its lows, prompting some analysts to predict that a rebound was near.

The Jakarta Composite Index lost 43.40 points, or 1.7 percent, to close at 2,475.6, after falling as low as 2,433, a decline of 3.5 percent, in midday trading.

Commodity-related and banking stocks dropped the most, declining 1.5 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

The JCI tumbled 2.9 percent on Friday and 3.5 percent last week, its biggest weekly loss since November, as global markets rolled over because of worries about European sovereign debt and US unemployment.

The index tumbled 161 points, or 6.2 percent, from Friday’s high of 2,592 to Monday’s low of 2,431.

Santikno Suherman, a fund manager at PT Indo Premier Securities, said some investors had begun snapping up oversold shares on Monday, indicating that a rebound was likely soon.

Santikno said many foreign investors fled the market but some locals, mainly institutional investors, were buying on Monday.

“In terms of valuation, Indonesia is one of the most competitive countries among emerging markets because the growth potential for companies’ earnings is relatively high,” he said.

Arfan Karniody, a fund manager at PT Batavia Prosperindo Aset Manajemen, called the recent wave of selling a “temporary correction.”

But Mastono Ali, an analyst at PT CIMB Securities, said the sharp sell-off in local stocks indicated that investors no longer believed Indonesian stocks offered an opportunity for bigger gains than other regional markets.

He said foreign funds were net sellers by more than Rp 550 billion ($58 million) as of midday on Monday, while locals were net sellers by Rp 220 billion.

The rupiah rose for the first time in three trading days over optimism that economic growth may have accelerated to the fastest pace in a year in the fourth quarter. The rupiah traded at 9,410 versus the dollar as of the stock market’s close on Monday, compared with 9,445 on Friday.

“There are expectations for strong GDP numbers on Wednesday that will boost Indonesia’s outlook and help remind investors of the country’s economic fundamentals,” said Joanna Tan, a regional analyst at Forecast Singapore.

However, lingering concerns over European sovereign debt may limit gains in Asian currencies, she said.

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