Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesia composite index (ICI) of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on Wednesday again closed lower, extending its decline for the third consecutive day after briefly strengthening in early trading.

The ICI closed down 18.82 points, or 0.29 percent, to 6,384.99, while the group of 45 leading shares, or the LQ45 index, slid 5.02 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,022.09.

"Concerns ride high, as issuers of State-owned Enterprises, including state-owned steel company Krakatau Steel, are again in trouble. This affects foreign investors' confidence. The effect is short term, but the ICI will weaken as a result of this," Panin Securities analyst William Hartanto remarked here on Wednesday

Opening higher, the ICI fell shortly and remained in the red zone until the close of stock trading.

The closing of the ICI was accompanied by a sell-off of shares by foreign investors as indicated by the amount of net foreign sell, or "net foreign sell," of Rp111.1 billion.

The frequency of stock trading was recorded at 492,743 transactions, with 19.14 billion shares traded worth Rp8.89 trillion, 185 shares rose, 217 shares declined, while the value of 148 shares remained unchanged.

In the meantime, regional bourses including the Nikkei index rose 88.69 points, or 0.41 percent, to 21,709.57; the Hang Seng index rose 57.56 points, or 0.2 percent, to 28,524.04; while the Straits Times index weakened 4.58 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,368.55.

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Translator: Citro Atmoko/Bambang Purwanto
Editor: Sri Haryati
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