Indonesia Bourse: Resistance Expected At 6,700 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 35 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 6,690-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the cement companies and mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks.

For the day, the index picked up 3.71 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 6,688.27 after trading between 6,638.65 and 6,726.97.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.76 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia collected 1.12 percent, Bank Central Asia improved 1.81 percent, Bank Mandiri sank 0.77 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia lost 0.65 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison plunged 3.27 percent, Indocement rallied 2.24 percent, Semen Indonesia strengthened 1.41 percent, United Tractors skidded 1.10 percent, Astra International tumbled 1.83 percent, Energi Mega Persada gained 0.74 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rose 0.31 percent, Aneka Tambang spiked 3.78 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.02 percent, Timah jumped 1.75 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 6.76 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga and Indofood Suskes were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed, eventually ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow dropped 112.96 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 33,517.65, while the NASDAQ gained 66.36 points or 0.63 percent to close at 10,635.65 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.99 points or 0.08 percent to end at 3,892.09.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ was solid after bond yields dropped amid bets the Federal Reserve will slow down the pace of its interest rate hikes in the coming months.

Stocks pared gains after comments from Fed officials that the central bank might raise rates to somewhere above 5 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Monday, gaining for a third straight session amid hopes of increased demand - while a weak dollar also helped to support oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rose $0.86 or 1.2 percent at $74.63 a barrel.