Indonesia Bourse Due For Profit Taking

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, improving more than 310 points or 4.5 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,140-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on the outlook for trade. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the resource and cement sectors, while the financial shares were mixed.

For the day, the index added 34.56 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 7,141.09 after trading between 7,085.97 and 7,160.66.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.28 percent, while Bank Mandiri and United Tractors both collected 0.91 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia strengthened 1.65 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dropped 0.89 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 1.26 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia shed 0.47 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison accelerated 3.96 percent, Indocement spiked 2.80 percent, Semen Indonesia soared 5.45 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur stumbled 2.66 percent, Astra International rallied 1.23 percent, Energi Mega Persada advanced 0.90 percent, Astra Agro Lestari jumped 1.68 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 3.03 percent, Vale Indonesia improved 1.69 percent, Timah gained 0.85 percent and Bumi Resources surged 3.31 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is slightly positive as the major averages spent most of Monday in the red before a late pushed them up and barely over the unchanged line.

The Dow climbed 137.33 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 42,792.07, while the NASDAQ rose 4.36 points or 0.02 percent to close at 19,215.46 and the S&P 500 perked 5.22 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,963.60.

The initial weakness on Wall Street came in reaction to news that Moody's has downgraded the U.S. debt rating by a notch to Aa1 from Aaa.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders seem to remain generally optimistic about the outlook for the markets.

On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators slumped by more than expected in the month of April.

Crude oil prices saw mild upside on Monday after Goldman Sachs raised its outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose $0.17 of 0.27 percent to $62.66 per barrel.