Semen Baturaja has received a positive response from the market during its first day of trading on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX).

The company’s shares, sold under the code ‘SMBR’, opened at IDR590 (5.9 US cents), or 5.4 per cent higher than its initial public offering price (IPO) of IDR560. The price, which reached its peaked at IDR700 in the afternoon trading session, closed the day at IDR570, down 3.4 per cent from the opening price but 1.8 per cent higher than the IPO price.

Semen Baturaja’s good performance was viewed as a sign that confidence seems to have returned to the IDX after a recent slump in prices. The price rally occurred across the board in line with the improvement in the trading sentiment in other Asian markets.

Semen Baturaja became the 17th firm that was listed on the IDX this year and the 20th state-owned enterprise that had entered the market. The company’s market capitalidation reached IDR5.51trn, data from the IDX show.

Semen Baturaja reaped IDR1.31trn from the sale of the company’s 23.8 per cent share during the IPO. After the IPO, the government’s ownership within the company was reduced to 76.2 per cent.

All proceeds from the IPO will be used to partly finance the construction of a IDR2.65trn integrated cement factory in South Sumatra this year. Upon completion, the factory will boost the company’s annual production capacity to 3.85Mta by 2016.