Indonesia cuts stock minimum price as market seeks liquidity boost

Traders Union
All News
Financial News
Indonesia cuts minimum stock price

Highlights

Indonesia Stock Exchange reduced the minimum stock price to a fraction of a U.S. cent from Rp50 to boost liquidity amid a market sell-off exceeding twenty-five percent in 2024.
MSCI removed GoTo and several Indonesian companies from its indices due to trading difficulties and concerns over opaque shareholdings and price manipulation.
Analysts say the new rule may modestly improve liquidity and sentiment, with GoTo expected to see increased active and passive investor interest despite ongoing volatility risks.

Rule change targets trading flexibility

As reported by Financial Times, the new floor price on the Indonesia Stock Exchange allows stocks to trade at a tiny fraction of a U.S. cent, compared with the previous minimum of Rp50. The measure is intended to support liquidity and price discovery as regulators work to stabilise the market and limit the risk of further capital outflows.

Indonesia’s benchmark stock index has lost more than a quarter of its value this year, and 291 listed stocks are already priced below one U.S. cent. The market sell-off follows an MSCI downgrade warning in January tied to concerns about opaque shareholding structures and possible share price manipulation.

Broader unease over President Prabowo Subianto’s economic and fiscal policies also weighs on investor sentiment. Ernest Chew, head of Asean equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management, says the new rules could improve sentiment by letting distressed stocks trade at levels that better reflect their fundamentals, although he adds that volatility could rise.

Pressure on listed companies and index standing

GoTo is among the companies expected to be affected by the lower floor price. The ride-hailing and food delivery group, once one of Indonesia’s highest-profile start-ups, has been stuck at the Rp50 floor since May after margin pressure and weak profitability hurt its shares.

GoTo listed in 2022 at Rp338 a share with a market capitalisation of $28bn, but it has since become a symbol of the wider market downturn. MSCI removes the company from its indices this year because the price floor makes trading more difficult, and the index provider also deletes several other Indonesian companies linked to the country’s richest tycoons from global benchmarks.

Homin Lee, senior macro strategist at Lombard Odier, says market sentiment has deteriorated substantially, but adds that regulators and the exchange are making a concerted effort to rebuild confidence. Gary Tan, an emerging markets portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, says any liquidity improvement from the rule change is likely to be modest and mostly one-off, with GoTo the main stock likely to attract both passive and active international investor interest.

Our earlier coverage of institutional investors regaining influence in stock market trading showed how big-money flows stayed active despite heightened volatility and decade-high U.S. Treasury yields. We also noted that retail participation was easing after a strong 2025 run, while institutions became more selective—supporting risk appetite in targeted areas even as broader markets de-risked.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.