Indonesia Stock Market May Extend Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Thursday halted the six-day losing streak in which it had plummeted more than 480 points or 5.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,980-point plateau and it may pick up steam on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are predicted to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index rose 6.63 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 6,983.87 after trading between 6,931.58 and 7,032.40.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.60 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia skidded 1.16 percent, Bank Central Asia fell 0.26 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia sank 0.73 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia advanced 0.97 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison shed 0.42 percent, Indocement added 0.68 percent, Semen Indonesia lost 0.61 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur slid 0.33 percent, United Tractors tanked 2.38 percent, Astra International eased 0.20 percent, Energi Mega Persada improved 0.89 percent, Astra Agro Lestari slumped 1.27 percent, Aneka Tambang plunged 3.40 percent, Jasa Marga rallied 1.49 percent, Vale Indonesia tumbled 1.67 percent, Timah plummeted 3.32 percent, Bumi Resources crashed 5.74 percent and Bank Mandiri and Bank Danamon Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Friday but quickly bounced up into the green and stayed that way for the balance of the session.

The Dow rallied 498.06 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 42,840.26, while the NASDAQ jumped 199.80 points or 1.03 percent to close at 19,572.60 and the S&P 500 gained 63.77 points or 1.09 percent to end at 5,930.85.

For the week, the Dow plunged 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent and the NASDAQ slumped 1.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the Commerce Department's report on personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which came in slower than expected.

As that is the Federal Reserve's preferred reading on consumer price inflation, the slower than expected growth inspired traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the mid-week sell-off.

Oil futures settled higher on Friday as the dollar came off two-year highs after soft PCE readings eased concerns about the outlook for interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures perked $0.08 or about 0.1 percent to $69.46 a barrel. Oil futures shed 2.5 percent in the week.