Indonesia Bourse May Extend Its Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 130 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,160-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks, in particular. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished barely higher on Friday following gains from the food and telecom sectors, weakness from the financial and cement companies and a mixed performance from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index perked 1.22 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 7,164.43 after trading between 7,135.28 and 7,197.01.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga and Vale Indonesia both fell 0.28 percent, while Bank Mandiri dropped 0.85 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia sank 0.76 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia skidded 1.09 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.51 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia retreated 1.43 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison added 0.42 percent, Indocement plunged 3.74 percent, Semen Indonesia slid 0.30 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur climbed 1.00 percent, United Tractors lost 0.49 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.41 percent, Aneka Tambang retreated 1.62 percent, Jasa Marga jumped 1.83 percent, Timah stumbled 2.76 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 0.81 percent and Bank Maybank Indonesia, Astra International and Energi Mega Persada were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 339.83 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 42,732.13, while the NASDAQ rallied 340.88 points or 1.77 percent to close at 19,621.68 and the S&P 500 climbed 73.92 points or 1.26 percent to end at 5,942.47.

For the holiday-interrupted week, the Dow slid 0.6 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both fell 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following recent weakness. Some traders also remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Wednesday.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted at a slower rate in December.

Oil prices climbed higher Friday amid optimism for the outlook for demand on recent data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February closed higher by $0.83 or 1.13 percent at $73.96 a barrel.