Soft Start Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one day after snapping the three-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 225 points or 3.3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,890-point plateau although it's expected to open lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of this week's FOMC rate decision, while disappointing earnings news may weigh on tech sectors. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index gained 22.83 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 6,886.96.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.40 percent, Bank CIMB Niaga added 0.50 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dipped 0.32 percent, Bank Central Asia dropped 1.01 percent, Bank Mandiri shed 0.63 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia sank 0.93 percent, Indosat Ooredoo sank 0.77 percent, Indocement gained 0.53 percent, Indofood Suskes tumbled 1.74 percent, United Tractors rose 0.25 percent, Astra International retreated 1.62 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 7.69 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations jumped 2.40 percent, Astra Agro Lestari strengthened 1.33 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 6.27 percent, Vale Indonesia skyrocketed 9.62 percent, Timah rallied 3.62 percent, Bumi Resources spiked 3.61 percent and Semen Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to held early gains on Friday, quickly slipping into the red and finishing near session lows.

The Dow shed 137.61 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 31,899.29, while the NASDAQ tumbled 225.50 points or 1.87 percent to end at 11,834.11 and the S&P 500 slumped 37.32 points or 0.93 percent to close at 3,961.63.

For the week, the NASDAQ spiked 3.3 percent, the S&P jumped 2.5 percent and the Dow climbed 2.0 percent.

The pullback on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to this week's highly anticipated monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by at least 75 basis points as part of its ongoing efforts to combat elevated inflation.

A steep drop by shares of Snap Inc. (SNAP) weighed on the tech-heavy NASDAQ after the company reported disappointing second quarter results and declined to provide guidance. Social media giant Twitter (TWTR) also reported second quarter results that missed estimates.

Crude oil futures settled sharply lower on Friday as prices fell on concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $1.65 or 1.7 percent at $94.70 a barrel.