The IHSG reached its highest level (4,696.11) at the end of session two, and its lowest level (4,656.26) at the start of session one. At the end of the trading day, it stood at 4,996.11, a 0.97 percent growth compared to the previous trading day. Trade volume and total value of transactions increased, with foreign investors mostly buying and domestic investors mostly selling Indonesian assets.

The IDR rupiah went up after being affected by positive sentiments due to a rising Euro. The Euro gained after Nikos Anastasyades won the elections in Cyprus. Anastasyades and the prime minister of Greece are both supportive of heavy cuts in the countries' financial systems and intend to stay in the European Union. However, there are plenty of matters that make investors hesitant, such as the parliamentary election in Italy, tomorrow's speech of the governor of the Federal Reserve, Moody's downgrade of Britain's government bond rating from AAA to AA1, and the European Commission's statement that the Euro zone will experience a recession in 2013 with expected growth to be -0.3 percent from the previous estimated 0.1 percent.

Asian stock markets were mostly positive triggered by a rally in Japanese stocks after the Japanese yen weakened amid speculation that Japan's central bank will support prime minister Shinzo Abe's policy to speed up economic stimulus efforts. China's and Hong Kong's stock markets initially weakened after the publication of a decline in the HSBC Manufacturing PMI, but turned positive after the news from Japan. Also, higher expected performance results from oil and brokerage companies in China made a positive impact.

When writing this column, European stock markets are still in the green zone, supported by news from Japan, even though market participants will wait and see for the results of the election in Italy first. A rise in oil producer stocks in China made a positive impact on mining stocks in Europe, such as BP Plc, and is followed by a rise in other stocks such as Antofagasta Plc, Schroders Plc and BMW AG, thus limiting the harm done by UK's downgrade. It is expected that American stock markets will be impacted positively today by the rising Asian and European stock markets.


Top Movers – Monday 25 February 2013

  Company    Change  
Eterindo Wahanatama            
   20.97%
• Tigaraksa Satria
   20.22%
• Nipress    13.33%
• Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper    12.05%
  Company    Change
• Centris Multipersada Pratama 
   16.18%   
Bumi Resources    13.19%   
• Intikeramik Alamasri Industri    10.07% 
Centrin Online    10.00%

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