BEI INDEX STARTS 0.39 PERCENT LOWER

Jakarta, April 8 (ANTARA) - The Composite Stock Price Index (IHSG) at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI), here on Thursday morning, got off to a weak start as investors tended to follow movements in global markets.

The BEI index went down 11.440 points or 0.39 percent to 2,889.756 points and the LQ-45 index fell 3.040 points or 0.54 percent to 559.609 points.

Wall Street falls were the main factor in the BEI index's decline, according to Alfiansyah, a foreign exchange analyst of PT Sinarmas Securities.

However, he said the BEI losses were normal after significant rallies over the past few days which had pushed the index to over 2,900 points.

He believed Indonesian stocks would strengthen again later as the foreign funds inflow into the domestic market tended to get bigger.

Alfiansyah predicted that in the near future, the BEI Index would approach the level of 3,000 points.

The main factor pressuring the BEi index was transactions in Indyka Energi shares reaching 9.33 million worth Rp26.35 billion, at the final rate of Rp2,825, or down Rp50 per share.

Other top losers at the BEI were Astra shares which declined Rp800 to Rp44,700, United Tractor shares that weakened Rp250 to Rp19,150, Bank Danamon shares that lost Rp150 to Rp5,400, BRI shares that plunged Rp100 to Rp8,600, Gudang Garam shares that slumped Rp100 to Rp17.900, and HM Sampoerna shares that fell Rp100 to Rp13,750 per share.