Jakarta Index Extends Gain

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The Jakarta composite index extended gain slightly in the opening trade on Thursday in the absence of new positive sentiment.

The index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange opened 8.61 points or 0.18 percent higher  at 4,667.78 points with index of 45 most liquid stocks up 0.29 percent to 785.32 points.

Samuel Sekuritas' analyst Yualdo Yudoprawiro  said index tended to move levelly as there was no new positive sentiment to boost the market.

"The BEI index is  vulnerable to profit taking  after significant increases in share prices over the past two days," Yualdo said.

Market players are awaiting the release of US unemployment data toward the weekend , he said .

Regional markets such as Hang Seng recorded a 0.44 percent increase in index to 22,680.09,  with Nikkei index up 0.35 percent to 14,955.66  and that of Straits Times gaining 0.18 percent to 3,122.10 points. (*/DWA)