This institution must maintain the trust of many parties."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla officially opened the first stock trade in 2017 at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) on Tuesday.

This event was attended by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, Governor of Bank Indonesia Agus Martowardoyo, Head of the Financial Services Authority Muliaman Hadad, and President Director of BEI Tito Sulistio.

"Happy New Year to all of us. I hope our economy can grow well in the midst of the global economic slowdown," the vice president stated here.

The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) and the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) benchmark grew by 15.32 percent last year, the highest in the bourses history and the second-highest in the Asia-Pacific region, OJK Chair Muliaman D. Hadad had earlier noted.

Hence, the vice president called on the BEI to streamline its system and maintain public trust.

"This institution must maintain the trust of many parties," the vice president noted.

The IDX benchmark recorded a growth of 15.32 percent and closed at 5,296.71 points by 2016.

Meanwhile, the amount of funds collected through BEIs trading in 2016 was worth Rp674.39 billion and US$247.50 million, the highest in the bourses history.

The JCI had earlier opened slightly lower on Tuesday at the start of the first trading day of the New Year due to profit booking.

The index of the Indonesian BEI fell 6.3 points, or 0.12 percent, to reach 5,290.39 points.

Analyst at the Binaartha Sekuritas Reza Priyambada pointed out that market players continued to sell shares, thereby resulting in a drop in the prices.

Market players booked profit, as the share prices are relatively good after closing at a higher price toward the end of last year, Reza noted.

However, the price fall would not impact the positive investor sentiment since the fundamentals of companies listed in the stock exchange industry are strong, and the countrys economy has still performed relatively well, he remarked.

"The governments tax amnesty policy would still lend a positive sentiment to the market. The policy is being viewed as strengthening the state revenues that could be used to finance infrastructure development," he stated.

In addition, optimism is high that the countrys economy would improve in 2017, with stable inflation, effective realization of policies, improved infrastructure, expected increase in exports and imports, and improved welfare of the people that would contribute to boosting the countrys gross domestic product, he affirmed.

Vice President of Research and Analysis at the Valbury Asia Securities Nico Omer Jonckheere noted that the JCI has high potential to rebound after the release of developed nations economic data, which is forecast to improve.

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