Indonesia Stock Market May Surpass 6,900-Point Barrier

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 70 points or 1 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 6,900-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher ahead of this week's FOMC meeting. The European and U.S. markets saw mild upside and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday as gains from the financials and resource stocks were dented by weakness from the cement companies.

For the day, the index gained 34.16 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 6,898.98.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.74 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia gained 0.79 percent, Bank Central Asia rallied 2.65 percent, Bank Mandiri jumped 2.04 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia climbed 1.09 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison added 0.42 percent, Indocement tumbled 1.98 percent, Semen Indonesia lost 0.68 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.29 percent, Astra International shed 0.42 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 3.05 percent, Aneka Tambang dropped 0.86 percent, Vale Indonesia soared 2.06 percent, Timah surged 2.75 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank CIMB Niaga, Astra Agro Lestari and Indofood Suskes were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be positive as the major averages shook off early listlessness to move into the green in afternoon trade.

The Dow added 28.68 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 33,978.08, while the NASDAQ jumped 109.31 points or 0.95 percent to end at 11,621.71 and the S&P 500 rose 10.13 points or 0.25 percent to close at 4,070.56.

For the week, the NASDAQ soared 4.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.5 percent and the Dow jumped 1.8 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy meeting this week. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points, but traders will look to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said personal income increased in line with estimates in December, while personal spending eased in line with expectations. The report also said core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose more than expected.

A separate report from the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected rebound in pending home sales in December, while the University of Michigan upwardly revised its reading on consumer sentiment in January.

Crude oil prices fell Friday amid uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand. Profit taking after recent gains and indications that oil supply from Russia will surge also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for March sank $1.33 or 1.6 percent at $79.68 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed 2.4 percent in the week.