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Jakarta stocks down on talk of fund speculation

JAKARTA: Talk that hedge funds were speculating on selected blue chip stocks and various political rumours dampened sentiment on Wednesday and the Jakarta index extended a two-week downtrend amid selling in the big cap stocks.

The composite index ended down 11.06 points or 1.9 percent to 565.48 points on turnover estimated at 851 billion rupiah.

Dealers said expectations of a further rise in US interest rates were also keeping investors away from investing heavily in the rupiah, despite continued improvements in the country's economy.-Reuters