Mild Upside Seen For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Monday ended the two-day slide in which it had slumped almost 35 points or 0.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,825-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is a study in contrasts, with gains among oil stocks likely offset by weakness among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financials, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index added 21.90 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 6,827.17.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rallied 2.36 percent, while Bank Central Asia collected 0.57 percent, Bank Mandiri absolutely cratered 49.03 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia strengthened 1.48 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison tumbled 1.80 percent, Indocement fell 0.24 percent, Semen Indonesia improved 0.79 percent, Indofood Suskes shed 0.40 percent, United Tractors dropped 0.86 percent, Energi Mega Persada soared 2.68 percent, Astra Agro Lestari spiked 2.47 percent, Vale Indonesia jumped 1.88 percent, Timah lost 0.49 percent, Bumi Resources surged 3.15 percent and Astra International, Aneka Tambang, Bank Danamon Indonesia and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is incongruous as the Dow and S&P opened higher and finished the same way, while the NASDAQ opened in the red and remained there throughout the session.

The Dow surged 327.00 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 33,601.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 32.45 points or 0.27 percent to end at 12,189.45 and the S&P 500 added 15.20 points or 0.37 percent to close at 4,124.51.

The strength on Wall Street rose the back of the energy sector as crude oil prices surged, while technology stocks ebbed on fears over the outlook for interest rates.

Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, buoyed by the decision of OPEC+ oil producers to cut output by around 1.16 million barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended higher by $4.75 or 6.3 percent at $80.42 a barrel.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity in the U.S. contracted at a slightly faster rate in March. Also, the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed a slight decrease in U.S. construction spending in February.