JAKARTA, 09 October 2008 - Indonesia closed its stock exchange for the second day to halt a flurry of selling that sent the main stock index plummeting more than 20 percent this week, while Asian trading ended mixed. Stock exchange president Erry Firmansyah said it will remain closed to give investors a chance to "calm down before they make decisions."

Indonesia's benchmark composite index has dropped more than 20 percent this week, driven by the financial turmoil in the United States. Traders attributed the fall to selling by major foreign investors. Fauzi Ichsan, senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia, says the global financial crisis is likely to impact only Indonesia's stock market and currency.

"I think it would affect the real economy for example, if the equity market continues to tank and foreign investors continue to sell their Indonesian shares," he said. "And with the rupiah they get they change to dollars, and the rupiah becomes under pressure, the rupiah tanks, and imported inflation accelerates, and therefore headline inflation also accelerates, then that would hit the real economy."

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