Jakarta stocks ended lower on Monday as investors braced for the beginning of the parliamentary campaign period later in the week.
"The overall sentiment remains negative as investors were cautious over the coming campaign period for the general election," said Bambang Setiadi, a portfolio manager at Sinarmas Sekuritas.
He expected the market would move in a relatively tight range during that period. Open campaigning for parliament seats begins March 11 and runs through April 1, with the election on April 5.
The Jakarta Composite Index finished 0.66 percent lower at 772.87 points in relatively heavy trading with an estimated turnover of 1.1 trillion rupiah ($128 million).
Indonesia's second largest telecommunication firm, PT Indonesian Satellite Corp Tbk, fell 1.33 percent to 18,550 rupiah despite shareholders' approval of the company's plan to split its shares at a ratio of one to five.
Setiadi said investors were realising their gains from the plan's announcement early last month, which had already driven the price up sharply.
Indosat announced in February that the company planned to seek the approval of its shareholders for the stock split, and even after Monday's decline the share price was almost 16 percent higher since the news.
Shares of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk fell slightly, with reports a previous auditor of the company had filed a lawsuit against it and others seen to have limited effect. The share price of the country's largest telecommunication firm ended 0.69 percent lower at 7,200 rupiah.
The rupiah currency was being quoted slightly stronger by late Monday at 8,582/8,587 rupiah compared to 8,600/8,605 in the morning.