[Kabar-indonesia] Jakarta Shares Little Changed; Rupiah Up at 9,354 [+Asian Stocks Fall]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Asian Stocks Slide for Third Day, Led by Toyota; BHP, Rio Climb 

excerpt from Indonesian stock index: The rupiah rose 0.3 
percent to 9,354 against the dollar at 11:41 a.m. local time. 

Indonesia stock index is little changed; Indofood declines 

JAKARTA, June 21 (Bloomberg): Indonesia's key stock index swung between gains 
and losses. PT Indofood Sukses Makmur slid after Credit Suisse Group lowered 
its estimates on the company's earnings. PTTelekomunikasi Indonesia gained as 
the rupiah strengthened, easing companies' costs to pay overseas debt.

The Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.54 point to 1,294.43 at the 12 p.m. local 
time break. The index rose as much as 0.5 percent and fell 0.1 percent earlier 
Wednesday.

The numbers of stocks that gained and fell were roughly equal. Indofood, the 
world's biggest maker of instant noodles, retreated Rp 20, or 2.2 percent, to 
Rp 880.

Indofood's net income estimate for this year was lowered by 20.4 percent and 
by 13.9 percent for 2007, Credit Suisse analyst Arief Wana, an analyst at 
Credit Suisse, wrote in a note to clients today. He kept an "outperform" rating 
for the stock.

The estimates were lowered because of "a more conservative pricing strategy," 
Wana wrote. While "we were pleasantly surprised" with Indofood's sales 
volume, the company "seems to rule out any further price increases this year, 
blaming fears of losing momentum and the sustained weaker purchasing power following 
last October' s" fuel-price increase.

Telekomunikasi, or Telkom, the nation's biggest telephone company with US$765 
million in dollar-denominated debt, added Rp 50, or 0.7 percent, to Rp 7,450. 
PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, a gas distributor with $324 million of overseas 
debt, rose Rp 50, or0.5 percent, to Rp 10,600, snapping a two-day, 6.2 percent 
slide. "The gain in the rupiah helped sentiment in Telkom and Gas Negara 
stocks," said Fitri Murniawati, an analyst at PT BNI Securities in Jakarta.

The rupiah rose 0.3 percent to 9,354 against the dollar at 11:41 a.m. local 
time. A stronger rupiah makes it cheaper in local currency terms for Indonesian 
companies to pay overseas debt or to import goods.

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Asian Stocks Slide for Third Day, Led by Toyota; BHP, Rio Climb 

by Michael Tsang in Tokyo

June 21 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks slid for a third day after a rebound in 
U.S. housing starts added to concern the the world's central banks will keep 
raising borrowing costs. Toyota Motor Corp. and LG Electronics Inc. led 
declines. 

``The selling isn't going to go away until we get a firm indication of where 
rates, especially in the U.S., are going,'' said Jason Teh, who manages $4 
billion at Investors Mutual in Sydney. ``Uncertainty will stick around for the 
rest of the month until the Fed meets and makes up its mind.'' 

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, a measure of 14 
markets, fell 0.2 percent to 119.19 as of 2:10 p.m. in Tokyo. The index lost 
2.1 percent in the previous two days. Declines in the dollar-based measure were 
capped as 13 of 15 Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg strengthened against 
their U.S. counterpart today. 

In Japan, the region's largest stock market, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average 
lost 0.6 percent to 14,565.12. Mitsui Fudosan Co. led declines by real estate 
companies on concern interest rates in Japan may rise, increasing debt payments. 
Indexes also fell in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand, 
Indonesia, the Philippines and China. They rose elsewhere. 

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.1 percent. Mining stocks including 
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Ltd. rose after Chinese steelmakers agreed to similar 
iron-ore price increases as their counterparts worldwide. 

Exporters declined on concern the Federal Reserve may boost rates further in 
the months to come to quell inflation, even after 16 straight increases since 
June 2004. The Fed meets next week to decide on the direction on U.S. monetary 
policy. The U.S. is Asia's biggest export market. 

`Sell More' 

Toyota, the world's largest automaker by value, fell 1.6 percent to 5,690 
yen. Toyota had 60 percent of its sales outside Japan last fiscal year. Sony 
Corp., maker of PSP portable game consoles and Cyber-shot digital cameras, lost 
2.7 percent to 4,710 yen. 

LG Electronics, South Korea's second-largest electronics makers, dropped 2.1 
percent to 52,200 won. Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Asia's second-largest memory 
chipmaker, fell 4.3 percent, to 27,050 won. 

U.S. builders broke ground for homes at a 1.957 million annual rate in May, a 
5 percent jump from a month earlier, Commerce Department figures showed. The 
result exceeded economists' median estimate of 1.867 million. 

``Some investors are bearish on the U.S. economic outlook and the current 
condition only encourages them to sell more exporter stocks,'' said Hideo 
Arimura, who helps look after $16 billion at Dai-Ichi Kangyo Asset Management Co. in 
Tokyo. 

Rate Increases 

Interest-rate futures show traders are certain of a rate increase this month, 
while the odds of another quarter-point move in August rose to 78 percent 
yesterday, from about a 5 percent chance two weeks ago. Policy makers meet June 
28 and 29. 

An increase by the Fed would follow the European Central Bank and 
counterparts in South Korea, Turkey, South Africa and Switzerland, which have boosted 
rates this month. 

Meanwhile, Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said yesterday the central 
bank must ``implement policy steps without delay,'' suggesting the central 
bank is close to increasing rates from near zero. Fukui later qualified the 
statement, saying he didn't intend to point to a specific time for raising rates. 

Mitsui Fudosan, Japan's largest property developer, dropped 3.1 percent to 
2,190 yen. Mitsubishi Estate Co., the second- biggest, declined 3.8 percent to 
2,130 yen. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., the No. 4, slid 4.4 percent to 
2,485 yen. 

`Looming' Costs 

BHP gained 3.1 percent to A$26.97. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-biggest 
miner, climbed 2.4 percent to A$75.19. 

Baosteel Group Corp., which represents China's steelmakers in negotiations, 
accepted a 19 percent price increase from BHP. The steelmakers, which account 
for 43 percent of global imports of iron ore, had so far resisted a 19 percent 
increase. 

The acceptance by Chinese steelmakers marks the end of more than half a year 
of negotiations. Prices rose a record 71.5 percent last year. Vale, BHP and 
Rio account for 75 percent of the iron ore trade. 

Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the listed unit of China's biggest steelmaker, fell 
1.7 percent to 4.13 yuan. Higher prices for iron ore, the raw material used 
to make steel, will raise the production costs for Chinese steelmakers. 

Maanshan Iron & Steel Co., China's largest Hong Kong-listed steelmaker by 
value, lost 2.1 percent to 2.75 yuan. Angang New Steel Co., China's 
fourth-largest steelmaker by output, dropped 1.4 percent to 5.58 yuan. 

``Some investors are a bit disappointed at the result and they had hoped a 
less aggressive price increase,'' said Fan Dizhao, who helps manage about $1.8 
billion with Guotai Asset Management Co. in Shanghai. ``The cost concern for 
steelmakers is now looming.'' 
 
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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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