Losing Streak May Continue For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping more than 60 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 7,020-point plateau and it's predicted to open under pressure again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild downside on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are likely to follow suit.

The SCI finished barely lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index eased 1.16 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 7,019.64.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia retreated 1.33 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.52 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 0.73 percent, Bank Mandiri climbed 1.20 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 1.01 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison added 0.43 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.32 percent, Indofood Suskes strengthened 1.50 percent, United Tractors plunged 4.73 percent, Astra International dropped 0.81 percent, Energi Mega Persada rallied 2.30 percent, Astra Agro Lestari skidded 0.90 percent, Vale Indonesia improved 1.37 percent, Timah advanced 0.82 percent, Bumi Resources declined 1.63 percent and Aneka Tambang, Bank CIMB Niaga and Indocement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened sharply lower on Friday but improved all session, finally ending mixed but little changed.

The Dow rose 34.87 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 34,429.88, while the NASDAQ slipped 20.95 points or 0.18 percent to close at 11,461.50 and the S&P 500 fell 4.87 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,071.70.

The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report, which showed stronger than expected job growth in November.

While the report points to continued strength in the labor market, the data has added to lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is likely to slow the pace of interest rate hikes as early as next month, but continued labor market tightness may still lead the central bank to raise rates higher than currently anticipated.

Crude oil futures slumped on Friday ahead of OPEC's meeting over the weekend and the European Unio's cap of Russian crude. West Texas Intermediate shed 1.24 per 1,5 percent to $79.98 per barrel.