Indonesia Bourse Likely To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 400 points or 5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index sits just above the 8,040-point plateau and it figures to hold steady in that neighborhood again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continued to be mildly positive 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 Monday as losses from the financial shares and telecoms were mitigated by support from the resource and cement companies. For the day, the index dipped 11.08 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 8,040.04 after trading between 8,005.35 and 8,087.93. Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.29 percent, while Bank Mandiri advanced 0.91 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.85 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.41 percent, Bank Central Asia and Astra Agro Lestari both dropped 0.96 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tanked 2.12 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison retreated 1.59 percent, Indocement improved 0.72 percent, Semen Indonesia strengthened 1.39 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rose 0.32 percent, Astra International shed 0.44 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 7.14 percent, Aneka Tambang rallied 3.77 percent, Vale Indonesia soared 3.71 percent, Timah spiked 5.00 percent, Bumi Resources skyrocketed 6.14 percent and United Tractors was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened in the red on Monday but quickly bounced higher and continued to trend that way throughout the session, ending near daily highs.

The Dow added 66.27 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 46,381.54, while the NASDAQ jumped 157.50 points or 0.70 percent to close at 22,788.98 and the S&P 500 gained 29.39 points or 0.44 percent to end at 6,693.75.

Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street, with some traders looking to cash in on the recent strength in the markets.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders remain optimistic about the outlook for the markets amid expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

After cutting rates by a quarter point last Wednesday, the Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another quarter at each of its next two meetings in October and December.

Crude oil was little changed on Monday amid lingering oversupply concerns after OPEC agreed earlier this month to boost production starting in October. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.05 or 0.08 percent at $62.73 per barrel.