Indonesia Shares May Test Resistance At 7,400 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Friday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 280 points or 3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,380-point plateau and it may open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and fairly flat on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index jumped 69.50 points or 0.95 percent to finish at 7,382.80.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.28 percent, while Bank Mandiri strengthened 1.22 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.79 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia improved 0.83 percent, Bank Central Asia tumbled 1.71 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia climbed 1.17 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia advanced 0.93 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison skidded 1.19 percent, Semen Indonesia tanked 2.67 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur added 0.63 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.18 percent, Astra International dropped 0.96 percent, Astra Agro Lestari gathered 0.40 percent, Aneka Tambang fell 0.34 percent, Jasa Marga perked 0.22 percent, Timah jumped 1.75 percent, Bumi Resources sank 0.72 percent and Indocement, Energi Mega Persada and Vale Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened higher on Friday, although the Dow was unable to hold its gains and the markets ended mixed.

The Dow slumped 123.18 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,642.52, while the NASDAQ rallied 159.07 points or 0.81 percent to close at 19,859.77 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.16 points or 0.25 percent to end at 6,090.27.

The Dow continued to clump amid a continued decline by shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) after that company's CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down last week.

But the NASDAQ and the S&P continued to benefit from a positive reaction to Friday's closely watched Labor Department report showing employment in the U.S. surged more than expected in November.

However, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in November from 4.1 percent in October, increasing confidence the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another 25 basis points later this month.

Oil prices fell on Friday, weighed down by prospects of excess supply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January shed $1.10 or 1.61 percent at $67.20 a barrel. WTI crude futures fell nearly 1 percent in the week.