Mild Upside Tipped For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping more than 50 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,810-point plateau although it's looking at a steady start on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat amidst a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. bourses were little changed and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index slipped 6.64 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 6,807.00.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga sank 0.81 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia improved 0.57 percent, Bank Central Asia dropped 0.88 percent, Bank Mandiri collected 0.75 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia gathered 0.63 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison soared 3.26 percent, Indocement skidded 1.09 percent, Semen Indonesia lost 0.70 percent, Indofood Suskes fell 0.40 percent, United Tractors retreated 1.69 percent, Astra International added 0.41 percent, Energi Mega Persada plunged 3.15 percent, Astra Agro Lestari shed 0.60 percent, Aneka Tambang tumbled 1.75 percent, Vale Indonesia slumped 0.73 percent, Timah stumbled 1.66 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 3.76 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded badly in the afternoon, finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow added 40.47 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 33,431.44, while the NASDAQ dipped 13.27 points or 0.11 percent to close at 11,675.74 and the S&P 500 perked 2.78 points or 0.07 percent to end at 4,048.42.

The early strength on Wall Street came as treasury yields moved notably lower amid optimism that the Federal Reserve is close to finishing its aggressive interest rate hikes.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as treasury yields rebounded ahead of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell - who is due to testify before the Senate Banking Committee later today and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report is also likely to attract attention later in the week.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Monday after Saudi Arabia signaled that it sees oil demand picking up in Asia and Europe by raising most prices for crude shipments to the regions. West Texas International Crude oil futures for April advanced $0.78 or 1 percent at $80.46 a barrel.