Steady Start Seen For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Friday snapped the two-day plunge in which it had tumbled almost 750 points or 9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 8,330-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with any upside likely limited by inflation concerns and profit taking among oil stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply higher Friday on bargain hunting after heavy selling in the previous two days, especially among the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index jumped 97.41 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 8,329.61 after trading between 8,167.16 and 8,408.30.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri vaulted 4.10 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia jumped 3.66 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia strengthened 1.58 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 2.78 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia added 0.79 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison fell 0.45 percent, Indocement gained 2.31 percent, Semen Indonesia expanded 1.24 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rose 0.37 percent, United Tractors surged 6.76 percent, Astra International tumbled 1.93 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 7.44 percent, Astra Agro Lestari climbed 1.37 percent, Aneka Tambang stumbled 2.55 percent, Vale Indonesia soared 5.74 percent, Timah tanked 2.41 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 3.20 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 179.09 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 48,892.47, while the NASDAQ sank 223.30 points or 0.94 percent to end at 23,461.82 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,939.03.

For the week, the S&P rose 0.3 percent, the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 percent and the Dow fell 0.4 percent.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about inflation after the Labor Department reported that producer prices increased by much more than expected in December.

New tariff threats from President Donald Trump may also have contributed to the negative sentiment, as well as news that Trump announced his intent to nominate former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Crude oil prices slid on Friday as the U.S. dollar index moved higher, while the possibility of diplomatic intervention in the U.S.-Iran conflict also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.22 or 0.34 percent at $65.20 per barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release December trade data and January inflation figures later today. Imports are expected to slip 0.7 percent on year after rising 0.46 percent in November. Exports are called lower by an annual 2.4 percent after slumping 6.6 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $2.45 billion, down from $2.66 billion a month earlier. In December, overall inflation was up 0.64 percent on month and 2.92 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 2.38 percent.