JCI Closes Lower for Seventh Consecutive Day
Jakarta. Indonesia's benchmark stock index traded lower on Wednesday (21/12) for the seventh consecutive day.
The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) closed 0.99 percent lower at 5,111.39. Decliners beat gainers 193 by 116.
The biggest laggard was cigarette producer HM Sampoerna, closing 4.83 percent lower at Rp 3,740 per share. The company has Rp 435.03 trillion ($17.48 billion) in market capitalization.
According to Asjaya Indosurya Securities analyst William Surya Wijaya, the JCI decline has been due to the US Federal Reserves's recent decision to raise interest rates, which prompted investors to invest in safe assets in the United States, rather than in emerging markets such as Indonesia.
Investors also typically cash in their gains towards the end of the year, which may lead to further declines on the JCI.
"Hopefully, our fundamental economic conditions can stay stable, so the composite index can also stay stable in the medium term," William said, as quoted by Antara news agency.
Despite the lack of positive stimuli, foreign investors, accounting for 37 percent of the total trade on the day, bought Rp 151.6 billion more in shares than they sold.
The rupiah weakened to 13,473 against the US dollar on Wednesday from 13,393 on Tuesday, according to data from Bank Indonesia.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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