Indonesia suspends share trading for a third day: official

Indonesia suspended morning trading on the local stock exchange Friday as Asian markets plummeted, backing away from an earlier plan to reopen the bourse after a two-day halt, an official said. "We will suspend share trade in the morning session," Indonesia bourse president director Erry Firmansyah was quoted by AFP as telling Dow Jones Newswires.He said Indonesian authorities will continue monitoring the global market situation before deciding whether to lift the suspension in the afternoon session (starting 0630 GMT).Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati had said Thursday night that trade would resume Friday after a two-day freeze.Trading on the Indonesia Stock Exchange was suspended after it plunged more than 10 percent to a two-year low Wednesday following huge losses on Wall Street, as global financial turmoil hit Southeast Asia's largest economy. Indrawati on Thursday announced a raft of new rules to restore market confidence, including a government pledge to spend four trillion rupiah (420 million dollars) to buy back shares in state companies. The minister also announced new rules allowing companies to buy back up to 20 percent of their paid-up capital in an effort to reduce selling pressure on the local bourse.