Indonesia Shares May Reclaim 7,100-Point Level

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long weekend for Ascension Day, the Indonesia stock market had moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slipping almost 50 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,090-point plateau although it may find support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on conflicting factors in the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, resource stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index sank 34.82 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 7,088.79 after trading between 7,071.35 and 7,164.31.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga tumbled 1.92 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia sank 0.75 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 0.64 percent, Bank Central Asia plunged 3.35 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.21 percent, Indocement tanked 3.89 percent, Semen Indonesia plummeted 4.68 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur advanced 0.81 percent, United Tractors shed 0.67 percent, Astra International accelerated 1.49 percent, Energi Mega Persada surrendered 3.88 percent, Astra Agro Lestari retreated 1.59 percent, Aneka Tambang jumped 1.99 percent, Vale Indonesia slumped 1.51 percent, Timah declined 1.56 percent, Bumi Resources dropped 0.96 percent and Bank Mandiri and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Friday, gave ground and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 125.08 points or 0.3 percent to finish at 39,512.84, while the NASDAQ dipped 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to close at 16,340.87 and the S&P 500 rose 8.60 points or 0.2 percent to end at 5,222.68.

For the week, the NASDAQ jumped by 1.14 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow surged by 1.85 percent and 2.16 percent, respectively.

The early strength on Wall Street partly reflected recently renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates. Recent data has pointed to some softness in the U.S. labor market, increasing investor confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in the coming months.

However, the early buying interest was partly offset by a report from the University of Michigan showing a sharp drop in U.S. consumer sentiment in May. The report also showed a notable increase in year-ahead inflation expectations.

Crude oil prices fell on Friday, on concerns the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates higher for a longer period, and uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand due to signs of slowing economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $1.00 at $78.26 a barrel.