High Open Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market moved back to the upside again on Friday, one session after snapping the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,975-point plateau and it's looking at a steady start again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, losses from the cement companies and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index gained 24.39 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 6,877.65.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.29 percent, while Bank Mandiri advanced 0.83 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.54 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia gathered 0.45 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison stumbled 1.82 percent, Indocement dropped 0.93 percent, Indofood Suskes retreated 1.41 percent, United Tractors improved 1.35 percent, Astra International strengthened 1.55 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 7.38 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.66 percent, Aneka Tambang tumbled 1.76 percent, Vale Indonesia gained 0.42 percent, Timah plunged 2.20 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 2.17 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia, Semen Indonesia and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is slightly higher as the major averages opened higher but quickly faded and hugged the unchanged line, finally ending mixed.

The Dow climbed 115.81 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 34,837.71, while the NASDAQ eased 3.19 points or 0.02 percent to close at 14,031.81 and the S&P 500 rose 8.11 points or 0.18 percent to end at 4,515.77. For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged 2.5 percent and the Dow jumped 1.4 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street followed the release of a mixed employment from the Labor Department. While the closely watched report showed modestly stronger than expected job growth in August, the report also showed an unexpected increase in the unemployment rate.

The increase in the unemployment rate added to optimism about the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged later this month, but traders continued to express some uncertainty about future meetings.

In other economic news, the Institute for Supply Management reported a slowdown in the pace of contraction in U.S. manufacturing activity last month.

Crude oil showed another significant move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending recent gains over supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery surged $1.92 or 2.3 percent to $85.55 a barrel, closing higher for the seventh straight session. The price of crude oil soared 7.2 percent for the week.