JCI Unaffected by Terrorist Attack in East Jakarta
Jakarta. Investors have brushed off the deadly terrorist attack in Jakarta and focused on fundamentals in buying shares at the Indonesia Stock Exchange to end the week's trade in a positive tone.
The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) closed 0.23 percent higher at 5,716 on Friday (26/05), after a day off to commemorate the ascension of Jesus Christ. The infrastructure, utilities and transportation sector led with a 1.7 percent gain and an index that tracks 43 stocks in the mining sector trailed with a 0.63 percent gain.
Domestic investors accounted for 54 percent of the trading activity and bought Rp 35 billion ($2.63 million) more in shares than they sold.
The suicide bombing in Kampung Melayu on Wednesday night that killed five and injured 12 others was the deadliest attack since January last year, when eight people were killed in Central Jakarta.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.
"The explosions have not affected the local index as the incident occurred not in the government or business district but in the suburbs," Binaartha Sekuritas analyst Reza Priyambada told the Jakarta Globe.
Another Binaartha analyst, Nafan Aji, said that the positive sentiment at the JCI was due to the government's efforts to maintain security and political stability in the aftermath of the Kampung Melayu incident.
"It shows that we have strong macroeconomic fundamentals," said Nafan.
The index however, has yet to return to its record level of 8,531 from Monday, after Standard & Poor's raised Indonesia's sovereign debt rating to BBB- from BB+ three days earlier.
Tags: Keywords: