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Stocks slump not yet a cause for concern for regulators

Stock marketregulators say they will not take any intervention measures to curb continued steep stock price declines and foreign selling sprees — now into the seventh week — as they consider the same things are occurring in regional markets

Anggi M. Lubis (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, June 9, 2015 Published on Jun. 9, 2015 Published on 2015-06-09T09:31:11+07:00

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Stocks slump not yet a cause for concern for regulators

Stock marketregulators say they will not take any intervention measures to curb continued steep stock price declines and foreign selling sprees '€” now into the seventh week '€” as they consider the same things are occurring in regional markets.

The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) '€“ the main price barometer for local stocks '€“ plunged nearly 1.7 percent on Monday to a seven-month low of 5,014, causing the index to suffer a 5.75 percent slump in the past two weeks, making it the worst performing market in Southeast Asia.

'€œThere are both domestic and external factors influencing our weakening indexes, but most countries in the world are experiencing the same,'€ Financial Services Authority (OJK) commissioner for stock market supervision Nurhaida said, adding that the market regulator would tighten its supervision on the market for now.

Emerging-market stocks dropped for the 11th day on Monday, the longest streak in 24 years, on growing concern the US will raise interest rates as soon as September after the best jobs report in five months added to evidence the US economy is strong enough, Bloomberg reported. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost 5.7 percent in the more than two weeks.

Intervention will only take place when '€œthe index falls by a total of 10 percent in a three-day streak'€, Nurhaida said.

'€œA relaxation measure we have taken previously was introducing stipulation that allows companies to buy back their shares without being preceded by approvals from a general shareholders meeting, to trigger a buying appetite in the market,'€ she explained.

The stock marketsupervisor had previously issued a regulation to loosen requirements for publicly listed firms to purchase back their shares when the market crashed by over 15 percent within three days back in the 2008 global financial crisis and 2013 US Fed tapering.

Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) director Ito Warsito said the bourse board would also not take any action to prop up share prices, saying that with Rp 6.22 trillion (US$465.5 million) of year-to-date foreign net purchases remaining in the market, it means investors still had confidence in investing in the country'€™s stocks.

Foreign investors sold Rp 286.5 billion worth of Indonesian shares more than they bought on Monday, extending nearly Rp 12 trillion in foreign net sells in the stock market within six consecutive weeks.

The local index has been volatile in the past two months on the back of panic selling, after domestic companies showed poor first quarter earnings, followed by weak economic growth data that saw gross domestic product (GDP) shrinking to a six-year low of 4.7 percent, and most recently high inflation rate of 7.15 percent in May, versus the government'€™s 5 percent target.

All of Southeast Asia'€™s major indexes ended lower on Monday, but only Indonesia passed a 1 percent decline. JCI is now the region'€™s worst performer, having slumped by 4 percent year-to-date.

'€œIndonesia remains the market with the highest potential upside in ASEAN, and hence our preferred market within the region,'€ Mixo Das, ASEAN equity strategist at Nomura, said in a report.

'€œStill, until we see stronger momentum in infrastructure delivery, the JCI is likely to remain volatile in light of weak growth momentum and external funding risks.

'€œThe rupiah is also set for a 17-year low for the third straight trading session on Monday, with other Southeast Asian currencies such as the Malaysian ringgit, also hit by the US rate outlook.'€

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