Shares of publicly listed PT Bumi Resources plunged in early Monday trading but staged a recovery -- the first since it resumed trading Nov. 6 -- to close at Rp 710, matching the price at Friday's close.

Early Monday, share price for the nation's largest coal producer, tumbled 9.86 percent to Rp 640 (5.3 US cents) before orders were halted under the stock market's automatic shutdown scheme.

Under the scheme, orders are automatically blocked for any stocks which have declined by 10 percent or risen by 20 percent during the trading day.

But share price bounced back later in the day, curbing the free fall which has so far caused the company to lose more than 90 percent of its value since its all-time high six months ago. Bumi shares peaked in June at Rp 8,750.

Share price managed to close not lower than the previous day for the first time since trading resumed on Nov. 6 following a month-long suspension.

The suspension followed a global market rout which slashed share values for Bumi and its parent company, PT Bakrie and Brothers by almost 40 percent in early October. The rout had forced the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) regulators to suspend all market activity for two days to avoid a further slide, since shares of the Bakrie flagship accounted at that time for 35 percent of all market capitalization.

Bakrie and Brothers, the investment mothership of family holdings of the politically powerful Aburizal Bakrie, also the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, is selling assets -- including stakes in units -- to limit share dilution amid declining value of shares it has put up as collateral for debts.

After almost a month, the IDX resumed trading of Bumi shares on Oct. 6, after the company announced it was in talks with private equity firm Northstar Pacific to sell off a 35 percent stake to raise $1.3 billion.

Since then, Bumi shares have been dropping by more than 9 percent almost every trading day.

Bumi shares only once dropped less than 9 percent; on Nov. 14 it only declined by 1.69 percent on news the company would spend Rp 8 trillion to buy back shares from the market.

Bumi's last hope rests with the Northstar deal, scheduled to be announced on Friday.

Analysts have said, however, that the Northstar deal is at risk given the steady declines in Bumi share values.

Bloomberg reported Monday that PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam, the state-owned mining company which is part of a consortium led by Northstar, may ask for a lower price for the proposed Bumi stake.

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