Indonesia Shares May Inch Higher On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 35 points or 0.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 7,700-point plateau and it's likely to remain rangebound again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement amidst a lack of catalysts. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index sank 47.60 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 7,696.92 after trading between 7,663.48 and 7,736.92.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga sank 0.78 percent, while Bank Mandiri stumbled 1,74 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.38 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia tanked 2.68 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.47 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 0.99 percent, Indocement dropped 0.72 percent, Semen Indonesia retreated 1.28 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur lost 0.69 percent, United Tractors rallied 1.47 percent, Astra International tumbled 2.86 percent, Energi Mega Persada declined 1.87 percent, Astra Agro Lestari skidded 1.11 percent, Aneka Tambang spiked 3.16 percent, Jasa Marga weakened 0.80 percent, Vale Indonesia rose 0.25 percent, Bumi Resources slumped 0.81 percent and Bank Maybank Indonesia and Timah were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened slightly higher on Friday but wound up mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 137.89 points or 0.33 percent to finish at a record 42,313,00, while the NASDAQ slumped 70.70 points or 0.39 percent to close at 18,119.59 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.20 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,738.17. For the week, the NASDAQ climbed 1.0 percent and the Dow and S&P both rose 0.6 percent.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came following the release of closely watched readings on U.S. consumer price inflation in August.

The Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures price index inched up by 0.1 percent in August after rising 0.2 percent in July. The uptick matched expectations.

Oil futures closed higher on Friday as additional stimulus measures from the Chinese government eased concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.51 or at $68.18 a barrel.