Indonesia stocks rise after MSCI extends review to November

SINGAPORE: Indonesian stocks rose slightly on Wednesday after index provider MSCI pushed its review on the country’s emerging markets status to November to assess the slate of reform measures rolled out by Jakarta.

Indonesia’s benchmark index gained 0.34% in early trading on Wednesday. The index is down 29% so far this year, making it the world’s worst-performing major stock market.

Indonesian assets have been hammered since January, when MSCI froze the country’s stocks in its indexes and raised the prospect of a downgrade to frontier status, leading to a flurry of reforms, including moves to raise free-float levels.

The index provider late on Tuesday called those measures a “step in the right direction”, but warned it would consider options such as a consultation on a downgrade to frontier status if sufficient progress was not evident by its November review.

Gary Tan, portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, said the outcome was in line with market expectations, with the tone of MSCI’s statement more cautionary than outright negative.

“What stood out is the clear shift toward implementation and measurable outcomes, signalling that announced reforms alone are not sufficient,” Tan said.

“The extension of the review to November keeps pressure on regulators and effectively kicks the decision down the road.”

Indonesia’s financial regulator said on Wednesday the MSCI announcement would serve as momentum to strengthen and accelerate the capital market reform agendas initiated since January.

MSCI in April had extended its review of Indonesian markets to June, and in May cut several companies – most of which were tied to tycoons – from its indexes.