Mild Support Called For Indonesia Stock Market

(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 jumped almost 130 points or 1.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,900-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly flat with a touch of upside ahead of the FOMC statement on Wednesday. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to inch higher.

The JCI finished barely higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index added 3.00 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 6,900.90.

Among the actives, Bank Negara Indonesia tumbled 1.91 percent, while Bank Central Asia rallied 2.14 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia climbed 1.15 percent, Indocement dipped 0.32 percent, Semen Indonesia spiked 2.24 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur fell 0.40 percent, United Tractors tanked 2.08 percent, Astra International skidded 1.10 percent, Vale Indonesia plunged 2.92 percent and Bank Mandiri and Bank Danamon Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Monday before gradually climbing up into positive territory.

The Dow gained 69.05 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 38,868.04, while the NASDAQ added 51.90 points or 0.35 percent to close at 17,192.53 and the S&P 500 rose 13/80 points or 0.26 percent to end at 5,360.79.

Traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of several key events later this week, including the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting.

The Fed is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday, when the central bank is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged.

Since the decision is largely seen as a foregone conclusion, traders are likely to pay closer attention to Fed officials' latest projections for the economy and rates.

Ahead of the Fed announcement, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on consumer price inflation in the month of May.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended higher by $2.21 or about 2.9 percent at $77.74 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide April figures for retail sales later today; in March, sales were up 9.3 percent on year.