Indonesia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 50 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,855-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The JCI finished slightly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks, while the cement companies were soft.

For the day, the index picked up 17.13 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 6,856.58.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia lost 0.68 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia sank 0.56 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.57 percent, Bank Mandiri collected 0.50 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 0.83 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison tanked 2.22 percent, Indocement dropped 0.89 percent, Semen Indonesia plunged 2.95 percent, United Tractors climbed 1.01 percent, Astra International jumped 1.77 percent, Astra Agro Lestari strengthened 1.21 percent, Aneka Tambang retreated 1.48 percent, Vale Indonesia rose 0.38 percent, Timah slid 0.42 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank CIMB Niaga, Indofood Suskes and Energi Mega Persada were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solidly negative as the major averages opened lower on Friday and stayed in the red throughout the session, finishing near daily lows.

The Dow tumbled 336.98 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 32,816.92, while the NASDAQ slumped 195.46 points or 1.69 percent to close at 11,394.94 and the S&P 500 sank 42.28 points or 1.05 percent to end at 3,970.04.

For the holiday-shortened week, the S&P dove 2.7 percent, while the Dow plunged 3.0 percent and the NASDAQ plummeted 3.3 percent.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came after the Commerce Department reported an unexpected acceleration in the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices in January.

The unexpected spike in core consumer prices added to recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates as the Federal Reserve may be inclined to leave interest rates higher for longer.

After coming under pressure early in the session, the price of crude oil showed a big turnaround over the course of the trading day on Friday. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery jumped $0.93 or 1.2 percent to $76.32 after falling as low as $74.09 a barrel in early trading.