Slight Upside Tipped For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 110 points or 1.3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 8,630-point plateau and it figures to remain rangebound again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished slightly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, gains from the cement stocks and a mixed picture from the resource companies.

For the day, the index lost 7.44 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 8,632.76 after trading between 8,617.04 and 8,689.10.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.28 percent, while Bank Mandiri shed 0.41 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia lost 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia sank 0.46 percent, Bank Central Asia advanced 0.91 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia skidded 1.08 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison jumped 1.73 percent, Indocement rallied 2.60 percent, Semen Indonesia vaulted 3.93 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur climbed 1.07 percent, United Tractors added 0.57 percent, Astra International dipped 0.37 percent, Energi Mega Persada rallied 1.26 percent, Astra Agro Lestari expanded 1.27 percent, Aneka Tambang rose 0.34 percent, Vale Indonesia perked 0.26 percent, Timah plunged 3.63 percent and Bumi Resources tumbled 1.65 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and bounced up and down all day but always remained in the green.

The Dow added 104.05 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 47,954.99, while the NASDAQ gained 72.99 points or 0.31 percent to close at 23,578.13 and the S&P 500 rose 13.28 points or 0.19 percent to end at 6,870.40.

For the week, the NASDAQ added 0.9 percent, the Dow climbed 0.5 percent and the S&P rose 0.3 percent.

The modest strength on Wall Street followed the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data that was in line with estimates, reinforcing recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of this week's Federal Reserve meeting.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating an 87.2 percent chance the Fed will lower interest rates by another quarter point this week.

Crude oil prices edged higher on Friday on persistent geopolitical tension due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the U.S.-Venezuela standoff. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.35 or 0.59 percent at $60.02 per barrel.