Indonesia Bourse May Test Resistance At 7,700 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 120 points or 1.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,670-point plateau and it's poised to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets finished slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the foods and financials, weakness from the cement companies and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index added 43.13 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 7,670.73 after trading between 7,616.35 and 7,673.18.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.27 percent, while Bank Mandiri collected 0.35 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia sank 0.76 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia and Jasa Marga both advanced 0.94 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 0.98 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Astra International both added 0.49 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia dropped 0.83 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison perked 0.24 percent, Indocement tanked 2.13 percent, Semen Indonesia dipped 0.25 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur improved 0.74 percent, United Tractors skidded 1.01 percent, Astra Agro Lestari shed 0.41 percent, Aneka Tambang retreated 1.42 percent, Vale Indonesia soared 3.23 percent, Timah increased 0.50 percent and Bumi Resources and Energi Mega Persada were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is solid as the major averages opened higher on Friday, faded midday but rallied going into the close.

The Dow climbed 228.03 points or 0.55 percent to finish at a fresh record 41,563.08, while the NASDAQ spiked 197.20 points or 1.13 percent to end at 17,713.62 and the S&P 500 gained 56.44 points or 1.01 percent to close at 5,648.40. For the week, the NASDAQ shed 0.9 percent, the Dow added 0.9 percent and the S&P rose 0.2 percent.

The higher close on Wall Street followed the Commerce Department report on U.S. consumer price inflation that is said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. The report showed consumer prices increased in line with estimates in July, while the annual rate of price growth was unexpectedly flat.

While the data has reinforced expectations of an interest rate cut by the Fed this month, traders expressed uncertainty about the pace of rate cuts, leading to some volatility in the markets.

According to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, there is a 69.5 percent chance of a quarter-point rate cut next month and a 30.5 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.

Crude oil showed a significant move to the downside on Friday on reports that OPEC is set to proceed with a planned oil output hike from October. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery plunged $2.36 or 3.1 percent to $73.55 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide August figures for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting a flat monthly reading and an increase of 2.12 percent on year following the 0.18 percent monthly decline and the 2.13 percent annual increase in July. Core CPI is seen higher by 1.98 percent on year, up from 1.95 percent in the previous month.