Indonesia Stock Market May Reverse Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market headed south again on Friday, one day after snapping the three-day slide in which it had dropped more than 130 points or 1.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 6,790-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid economic and earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 56.40 points or 0.82 percent to finish at 6,787.63 after trading between 6,733.78 and 6,833.03.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga spiked 3.16 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.36 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 0.54 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rallied 1.46 percent, Semen Indonesia tumbled 1.72 percent, Indofood Suskes climbed 1.13 percent, United Tractors retreated 1.43 percent, Astra International jumped 1.69 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 11.11 percent, Astra Agro Lestari shed 0.66 percent, Aneka Tambang plunged 4.23 percent, Vale Indonesia fell 0.36 percent, Timah tanked 2.53 percent, Bumi Resources surged 5.26 percent and Bank Mandiri, Bank Central Asia, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Indocement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained solidly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 546.68 points or 1.65 percent to finish at 33,674.38, while the NASDAQ rallied 269.01 points or 2.25 percent to end at 12,235.41 and the S&P 500 jumped 75.03 points or 1.85 percent to close at 4,136.25. For the week, the NASDAQ rose 0.1 percent, the S&P slid 0.8 percent and the Dow fell 1.2 percent.

The rally on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.

Regional banks helped lead the recovery after ongoing concerns about turmoil in the sector weighed on the markets in recent sessions, while strong quarterly results from tech giant Apple (AAPL) fueled gains on the NASDAQ.

Traders also reacted to the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report for April, which showed that job growth far exceeded estimates and the unemployment rate ticked lower.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Friday on easing recession concerns in some of the world's major economies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $2.78 or 4.1 percent at $71.34 a barrel but was down more than 7 percent for the week.