Indonesia Bourse May Set Fresh Record High

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after halting the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 400 points or 5 percent. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Jakarta Composite Index sits just above the 8,050-point plateau and it may see additional support on Monday.

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

The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the food and telecom stocks, while the financials were soft and the cement and resource companies were mixed.

For the day, the index added 42.69 points or 0.53 percent to finish at the daily high of 8,051.12 after trading as low as 7,983.36.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga sank 0.87 percent, while Bank Mandiri dropped 0.90 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia plummeted 5.60 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia declined 1.61 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 1.30 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison soared 3.28 percent, Semen Indonesia lost 0.69 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rallied 2.29 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.33 percent, Astra International spiked 2.69 percent, Energi Mega Persada retreated 1.56 percent, Astra Agro Lestari tumbled 1.88 percent, Aneka Tambang and Bumi Resources both advanced 0.88 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.25 percent, Timah shed 0.45 percent and Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Indocement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the session, hitting fresh record closing highs.

The Dow jumped 172.85 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,315.27, while the NASDAQ climbed 160.75 points or 0.72 percent to end at 22,631.48 and the S&P 500 added 32.40 points or 0.49 percent to close at 6,664.36.

For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Dow rose 1.1 percent.

Optimism about lower interest rates has contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the Federal Reserve cutting rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaling two more rate cuts this year.

Overall trading activity appeared somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as traders dissected the Federal Reserve's message, hinting at underlying risks to the economy and stoking demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.91 or 1.43 percent at $62.66 per barrel.