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Hope for COVID-19 vaccine propels Indonesian stocks
The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), the main gauge of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), gained 1.99 percent and closed Tuesday's session at 5,462.74
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Employees walk near a screen displaying stocks movement in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) building in Jakarta on Feb. 28, 2019. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
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ndonesian stocks soared on Tuesday to a level unseen since March as hope for a COVID-19 vaccine boosted investors’ appetite for risky assets.
The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), the main gauge of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), gained 1.99 percent and closed Tuesday’s session at 5,462.74, a level last seen in early March when the impact of the coronavirus outbreak started battering the stock market. The rupiah appreciated 0.05 percent to 14,057 against the United States dollar.
Foreign investors bought Rp 2.25 trillion (US$158.76 million) worth of stocks more than they sold on the day, shedding some net sell recorded by them so far this year to Rp 44.09 trillion. Banking stocks moved the index, with state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), privately owned Bank Central Asia (BCA) and state-owned Bank Mandiri becoming the top three movers on the day.
“The bullish market over the vaccine development will last by another one or two weeks and even longer should the FDA approve the vaccine to be widely distributed,” BNI Sekuritas research head Kim Kwie Sjamsudin told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, referring to the United States Food and Drug Administration.
US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc announced on Monday that its vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech SE, had shown promising results.
“The first set of results from our phase three vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” Pfizer chairman and chief executive officer Albert Bourla said in a statement.
The trial result indicated that the vaccine was “90 percent effective” in preventing COVID-19 infection.
