Renewed Support Expected For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market turned lower again on Friday, one session after snapping the three-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 100 points or 1.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,650-point plateau although it figures to rebound again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, thanks to encouraging economic and earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were up sharply and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the resource stocks and mixed performances from the financials and cement companies.

For the day, the index shed 36.73 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 6,651.90.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia surged 4.10 percent, while Bank Central Asia fell 0.36 percent, Bank Mandiri declined 1.71 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 1.23 percent, Indosat Ooredoo tanked 2.01 percent, Indocement advanced 0.83 percent, Semen Indonesia surrendered 2.30 percent, United Tractors plunged 2.60 percent, Astra International slumped 2.46 percent, Energi Mega Persada stumbled 3.48 percent, Astra Agro Lestari tumbled 1.92 percent, Aneka Tambang plummeted 6.67 percent, Vale Indonesia cratered 6.01 percent, Timah crashed 3.42 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank CIMB Niaga, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained firmly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 658.09 points or 2.15 percent to finish at 31,288.26, while the NASDAQ spiked 201.24 points or 1.79 percent to end at 11,452.42 and the S&P 500 jumped 72.78 points or 1.92 percent to close at 3,863.16.

For the week, the NASDAQ slumped by 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 slid by 0.9 percent and the Dow edged down by 0.2 percent.

A positive reaction to the latest earnings news contributed to the rally on Wall Street, fueled by the likes of Citigroup (C) and UnitedHealth (UNH), which exceeded expectations.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said retail sales jumped more than expected last month. Also, the University of Michigan unexpectedly showed a modest improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in July. And the Labor Department said U.S. import prices crept up much less than expected in June.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday, buoyed by reports that an increase in Saudi oil output is unlikely for now. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $1.81 or 1.9 percent at $97.59 a barrel. WTI crude futures shed nearly 7 percent in the week.