Indonesia Stock Market May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 150 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,515-point plateau although it's due for support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting, especially among the oil and technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the food, finance and cement stocks, while the resource companies. were mixed.

For the day, the index retreated 131,79 points or 1.98 percent to finish tat 6,515.63 after trading between 6,514.69 and 6,632.08.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.60 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.41 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia stumbled 2.21 percent, Bank Central Asia tanked 2.51 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia retreated 1.32 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia declined 1.53 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison rallied 2.61 percent, Indocement plunged 4.38 percent, Semen Indonesia cratered 3.00 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur tumbled 1.71 percent, United Tractors weakened 1.41 percent, Astra International surrendered 2.33 percent, Energi Mega Persada slumped 1.73 percent, Astra Agro Lestari jumped 1.76 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 3.58 percent, Vale Indonesia crashed 2.77 percent, Timah surged 6.19 percent, Bumi Resources gave up 2.13 percent and Bank Mandiri and Jasa Marga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday and continued to accelerate as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 674.62 points or 1.65 percent to finish at 41,488.19, while the NASDAQ rallied 451.07 points or 2.61 percent to close at 17,754.09 and the S&P 500 jumped 117.42 points or 2.13 percent to end at 5,638.94.

For the week, the Dow plunged 3.1 percent, the NASDAQ tumbled 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 slumped 2.3 percent.

The rally on Wall Street saw traders pick up stocks at reduced levels after the steep drop on Thursday, which dragged the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 down to their lowest closing levels in six months - and also sending the S&P into correction territory.

In economic news, the University of Michigan noted a substantial deterioration in consumer sentiment and a surge by inflation expectations in the month of March.

Oil prices climbed higher on Friday as worries about excess supply in the market eased after the U.S. government announced fresh sanctions on Iranian oil and shipping. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.63 or 1 percent at $67.18 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide February data for imports, exports and trade balance later today. In January, imports were down 2.67 percent on year and exports rose an annual 4.68 percent for a trade surplus of $3.45 billion.