Indonesia keeps stock market shut after global drop

By Harry Suhartono

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia dropped plans to reopen its stock market on Friday morning after a two-day suspension and despite policy makers unveiling new measures aimed at calming fears that Southeast Asia's largest economy faces a new crisis.

The move to delay the scheduled reopening came after steep losses on Wall Street on Thursday and another free-fall on Asian markets on Friday.

Erry Firmansyah, president director of the exchange, said the decision was made "to protect investors and prevent further sharp falls" in the market.

The official said the exchange had consulted the government and would monitor the markets before deciding when to reopen.

"We are here to protect our financial markets entirely, not just the stock market. We also do not want the rupiah to collapse," Firmansyah said on Metro TV.

Brokers had earlier said that the stock market looked set to fall sharply on Friday morning.

John Teja, head of equities sales at Ciptadana Securities, said the market could have dropped around 10 percent on the opening.

Along with a plunge in the stock market, which has fallen 47 percent this year, the rupiah currency is also trading near its lowest in about three years, although so far has held up much better than other regional currencies such as the South Korean won.