Indonesia stock exchange caps daily share price declines at 10%

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's stock exchange on Tuesday changed the daily limit on how much shares can fall to a maximum of 10 per cent, in the latest move by authorities to try to cushion the impact of global market volatility.

Daily limits on losses had previously ranged from 20 to 35 per cent, it said in a statement.

The cap on upper daily price moves will be kept at between 20 percent to 35 per cent.

Indonesia's stock index is the worst performer in Southeast Asia, having lost about 20 percent this year, while the rupiah is trading at 17-year low.

Indonesia's financial regulator issued regulations last week allowing listed firms to buy back shares to reduce "excessive market fluctuation".

On Tuesday, the stock index rose as much as 3.3 percent at one point after state-owned enterprise minister Rini Soemarno said state firms will spend at least 10 trillion rupiah (S$1 billion) to buy back their shares starting from Tuesday.

In the bond market, Finance Ministry has conducted three government bond buybacks this month, spending about 1.4 trillion rupiah as of Monday.

The debt and risk management office said it will spend at least 3 trillion rupiah on buybacks to support the sovereign bond market.

REUTERS