JCI Closes Higher on Monday Despite Collapse of Floor in IDX Building
Jakarta. Indonesia's benchmark stock index closed higher on Monday (15/01), bouncing back from Friday despite the collapse of a mezzanine floor at the local bourse in Jakarta, shortly after the end of the day's first trading session.
The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) closed 0.19 percent higher at 6,382.
Nafan Aji, an analyst at brokerage firm Binaartha Sekuritas, said the JCI opened higher at 6,379 on Monday due to strong gains in Asian stocks, spurred by an improvement in global commodity prices.
The index reached 6,389 at around 10 a.m., but dropped during the second session.
"The country's index weakened slightly during the second trading session, likely due to negative sentiment from a deficit in Indonesia's trade balance, and the collapse of a first-floor corridor in the Indonesia Stock Exchange [IDX] building, but it bounced back and [still] closed higher than Friday," Nafan said.
Indonesia recorded a $270 million trade deficit in December, but the country still had a cumulative $11.84 billion trade surplus for 2017, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data shows.
Foreign investors, who accounted for 37 percent of Monday's trading, bought Rp 1.96 trillion ($147.4 million) more in shares than they sold, while local investors sold Rp 1.96 trillion more than they bought.
Some indexes rose during Monday's trading, led by a 1.53 percent gain in the one that tracks mining stocks, including Vale Indonesia and Medco Energi Internasional.
The index that tracks financial stocks, including Bank Mandiri and Bank Central Asia, gained 0.67 percent.
Gainers beat decliners by 168 to 175 on Monday.
IDX Floor Collapse
At least 77 people were injured when a mezzanine floor in the second tower of the IDX building collapsed shortly after 12 p.m. on Monday.
The tower, which is also home to the offices of the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, property consultants and several local lenders, was built in 1998.
The IDX said in a statement that the building management was still investigating the cause of the incident. Police have ruled out an explosion as the cause.
The second trading session started at 1:30 p.m. as normal, despite the incident.
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