Indonesian shares ended higher Tuesday, with buying in cement blue chips pushing the main index above the historical level of 1000 points, dealers said. Fund managers continued to snap up select blue chips to improve their books before year-end, but concerns over the rising death toll from the massive earthquake and tsunamis over the weekend prevented the main index from rising further, they said.
Emergency teams attempted to reach remote areas in Indonesia’s quake and tsunami-devastated Sumatra Island Tuesday as the government estimated that up to 25,000 people on the island alone had been killed.
Cement maker Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa jumped 10 per cent to IDR2950, on expectations that
the company’s financial performance will improve next year on rising cement demand from local markets.
Indocement’s rival Semen Gresik rose 2.2 per cent to IDR18,300, on expectations that the government
will soon resolve its dispute with Mexico’s Cemex over the control of the nation’s largest cement company. Dealers said they expect the market Wednesday to trade higher on follow-through buying in cement blue chips.
