Losing Streak May Continue For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 60 points or 0.8 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,035-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower in this holiday-shortened week, with technology stocks likely to be a key drag. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the resource stocks.

For the day, the index shed 29.18 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 7,036.57.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga advanced 0.88 percent, while Bank Mandiri collected 0.87 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia tumbled 1.95 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia shed 0.46 percent, Bank Central Asia added 0.51 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia surrendered 2.38 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison improved 0.82 percent, Indocement rose 0.33 percent, Semen Indonesia jumped 1.85 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur climbed 0.98 percent, United Tractors increased 0.79 percent, Astra International strengthened 1.02 percent, Energi Mega Persada rallied 1.89 percent, Astra Agro Lestari surged 5.58 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 6.27 percent, Jasa Marga gained 0.46 percent, Vale Indonesia spiked 1.70 percent, Timah plunged 2.83 percent and Bumi Resources and Bank Maybank Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and remained that way throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 333.59 point or 0.77 percent to finish at 42,992.21, while the NASDAQ slumped 298.37 points or 1.49 percent to close at 19.722.03 and the S&P 500 sank 66.75 points or 1.11 percent to end at 5,970.84.

For the week, the Dow picked up 1.4 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P both advanced 1.5 percent.

The numbers may have been a bit skewed by light volume, with many investors away from their desks on holiday between Christmas and New Year's.

On the economic front, data showed that U.S. retail inventories, excluding autos, increased by 0.6 percent on month in November, following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent rise in the prior month, according to preliminary estimates.

Oil prices climbed higher on Friday after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February settled at $70.60 a barrel, gaining about 1.4 percent.