INDONESIAN INDEX UP

Jakarta, Oct 17 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) opened here on Wednesday morning with the share price index rising 10.02 points to follow the global trend. The BEI index rose 0.23 percent to 4,339.09 points with the index of 45 most liquid stocks rising 0.34 percent to 752.64 points. "The index gained to follow the trend in global market which rose on better than expected US retail sale," Trust Securities` analyst Reza Priyambada said here on Wednesday. Reza said the BEI index is nearing saturated level of buying but there is still positive data allowing the index to stay at positive level despite possible profit taking. "It is still possible for the index to increase to the level of 4,335-4,342 points," he said. Samuel Sekuritas` analyst Adrianus Bias said the BEI index strengthened to follow the regional trend, which was boosted by global market rally last night and oil price hike to US$92.5 per barrel. "The BEI index is expected to rally again to follow the regional market strengthening . Regional markets Hang Seng recorded an increase of 0.89 percent in index to 21,.395.24 points, Nikkei-225 with index up 1.27 percent and Straits Times with index gaining 0.29 percent to 3,055.58 points.