Indonesia Shares Due For Profit Taking On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 230 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,320-point plateau although investors figure to lock in gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with profit taking likely to cap any upside. The European markets were soft and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the resource stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and cement companies.

For the day, the index advanced 70.54 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 7,317.24 after trading between 7,245.20 and 7,356.71.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga skidded 1.06 percent, while Bank Mandiri accelerated 3.54 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 0.48 percent, Bank Central Asia strengthened 1.56 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 1.65 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison shed 0.69 percent, Indocement climbed 1.11 percent, Semen Indonesia retreated 1.46 percent, United Tractors added 0.68 percent, Astra International jumped 1.91 percent, Astra Agro Lestari advanced 0.83 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 3,51 percent, Vale Indonesia skyrocketed 6.92 percent, Timah surged 3.17 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 2.13 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia, Indofood Sukses Makmur and Energi Mega Persada were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed and fairly flat and finished much the same.

The Dow climbed 134.19 points or 0.34 percent to finish at a record 40,003.59, while the NASDAQ slipped 12.33 points or 0.07 percent to close at 16,685.97 and the S&P 500 rose 6.17 points or 0.12 percent to end at 5,303.27.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.1 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.5 percent and the Dow shot up 1.2 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves as they digest recent strength in the markets, which saw the major averages reach new record highs.

In economic news, the Conference Board noted a continued decrease by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of April.

Oil prices rose on Friday amid easing inflation, data showing a drop in inventories, and hopes of interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June climbed to $80.06 a barrel, gaining $0.79 or more than 1 percent. WTI crude futures gained 2.3 percent in the week.