BEI INDEX OPENS SLIGHTLY LOWER ON PROFIT TAKING MOVES

Jakarta, March 29 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) here on Monday morning got off to a weak start on profit taking moves.

The BEI index went down 7.430 points or 0.25 percent to 2,806.754 points and the LQ-45 index fell 1.991 point or 0.23 percent to 547.314 points.

Alfiansyah, a foreign exchange analyst of PT Sinarmas Securities, predicted that the BEI index would move upward and might reach nearly the level of 2,900 points in the afternoon trading.

Among top losers at the BEI were Elnusa shares that declined Rp10 to Rp490 per share, Astra shares that lost Rp650 to Rp42,500, Bukit Asam shares that fell Rp250 to Rp17,550, BRI shares that weakened Rp 200 to Rp8,200, BCA shares that went down Rp100 to Rp5,300 and Bank Mandiri shares that lost Rp100 to Rp5,050 per share.

The rupiah strengthened against the US dollar in the Jakarta interbank spot market, here on Monday morning, as foreign capital inflow into the domestic market increased.

The Indonesian currency traded Rp9,087-Rp9,097 per US dollar, up 28 points from Rp9,115-Rp9,125 per US dollar at the market's close over last weekend.