Renewed Selling Pressure Likely For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 70 points or 0.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,630-point plateau although it's likely to head south again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is gloomy after the Strait of Hormuz was shut down again over the weekend. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher on Friday, but the Asian bourses are now expected to open under pressure on Monday.

The JCI finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the resource stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and cement companies.

For the day, the index rose 12.62 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 7,634.00 after trading between 7,607.96 and 7,673.86.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga jumped 1.64 percent, while Bank Mandiri shed 0.43 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia spiked 3.23 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia rose 0.27 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.53 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.59 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison dropped 0.97 percent, Indocement rallied 2.33 percent, Semen Indonesia lost 0.40 percent, United Tractors improved 0.71 percent, Astra International accelerated 2.82 percent, Energi Mega Persada dipped 0.28 percent, Astra Agro Lestari vaulted 2.45 percent, Aneka Tambang perked 0.25 percent, Vale Indonesia strengthened 1.85 percent, Timah climbed 1.04 percent, Bumi Resources sank 0.80 percent and Indofood Sukses Makmur was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained firmly in the green throughout the trading day, ending at session highs.

The Dow jumped 868.71 points or 1.79 percent to finish at 49.447.43, while the NASDAQ rallied 365.78 points or 1.52 percent to end at 24,468.48 and the S&P 500 gained 84.78 points or 1.20 percent to close at 7,126.06.

For the week, the NASDAQ skyrocketed 6.8 percent, the S&P 500 soared 4.9 percent and the Dow spiked 3.2 percent.

The rally on Wall Street came following news that Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz completely open to commercial traffic on the heels of the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

The news of the temporary reopening of the strait led to a nosedive by the price of crude oil, easing supply-related concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $11.17 or 10.58 percent at $84.11 per barrel.

The strength on Wall Street may also have reflected optimism about the strength of corporate earnings ahead of the quarterly results from several big-name companies this week.