TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
IDX among worst performers in Asia
The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) was the sixth worst performing stock market in Asia during the first seven months of the year, a period that saw sharp global economic declines, a regulator says
Change Size
The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) was the sixth worst performing stock market in Asia during the first seven months of the year, a period that saw sharp global economic declines, a regulator says.
The Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) announced Monday the Indonesia Composite Index dropped 19.6 percent to 2.195,93 in the period after ranking as the third best performer in Asia Pacific last year.
"But the data shows us that even though our index declined, we are not the worst one," said Bapepam-LK chairman Fuad Rahmani on the sidelines of the IDX's anniversary ceremony.
Fuad said the U.S. mortgage crisis had been the main cause for the global economic downturn in the period.
Based on the report, China's Shanghai Stock Exchange suffered the most, followed by China's Shenzen, the Philippines' PSE, Malaysia's KLCI and Hong Kong's Hangseng.
In market capitalization growth, the IDX ranked seven on the list of worst performers, declining 14.23 percent between January and July this year to US$175.1 billion.
However, daily transactions on the bourse over the period increased to an average of Rp 5.4 trillion ($596 million) from Rp 3.3 trillion in the full year of 2007.
Inflow of money from oil-rich countries in the Middle East contributed to the increase as investors were drawn to the market's competitive short-term proceeds.
Fuad also said Bepepam had given permission to 14 companies to go public as of Aug. 8 with a combined share value of Rp 22.78 trillion.
The agency also authorized 16 companies to perform rights issuances, with a combined value of Rp 48.08 trillion of shares, and authorized 19 companies to issue bonds worth total Rp 11.9 trillion.
IDX president director Erry Firmansyah originally targeted a total of 30 new companies to go public this year, 17 of which have successfully held initial public offerings, while another is currently being assessed by Bapepam.
Due to higher bank borrowing costs, many companies have preferred to sell their shares on the stock market to raise funds, especially as the government has passed new tax cuts favoring publicly listed companies, analysts have said.
Companies are also reluctant to issue bonds as investors now expect high interest rates of between 14 and 15 percent as a result of the central bank's decision to raise its benchmark interest rate to 9 percent.
Erry said between January and July this year, 21 companies had issued bonds worth a net Rp 12.85 trillion, and that the IDX was targeting 40 companies to conduct bonds issuances this year.
Last year, 45 companies issued bonds worth net Rp 31.27 trillion.
The Bapepam revealed that during the first seven months of the year it had slapped penalties worth total Rp 6.75 billion on 240 institutions, including 98 publicly listed firms, 83 securities houses and 53 investment managers.
The watchdog also temporarily abstained from issuing licenses to new investment managers, citing that the market had become saturated, especially the mutual funds management business.
Despite losses on the stock market, the country's net asset value of mutual funds grew slightly to Rp 95.2 trillion as of Aug. 7 from Rp 92.3 trillion in early January.
