Soft Start Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 220 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,680-point plateau although it's likely to open in the red again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on continued concerns over the health of financial institutions. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financials, resource stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index spiked 112.51 points or 1.71 percent to finish at 6,678.24.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia rose 0.37 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga strengthened 1.69 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia advanced 0.84 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.90 percent, Bank Mandiri jumped 2.54 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia gained 3.59 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison increased 0.72 percent, Indocement rallied 2.56 percent, Semen Indonesia jumped 1.67 percent, Indofood Suskes lost 0.41 percent, United Tractors soared 5.66 percent, Aneka Tambang surged 5.57 percent, Vale Indonesia accelerated 3.25 percent, Timah skidded 1.03 percent, Bumi Resources spiked 5.13 percent and Astra International, Astra Agro Lestari, Energi Mega Persada and Perusahaan Perseroan were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Friday and pretty much stayed that way throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 384.62 points or 1.19 percent to finish at 31,861.98, while the NASDAQ slumped 86.79 points or 0.74 percent to close at 11,630.51 and the S&P 500 dropped 43.64 points or 1.10 percent to end at 3,916.64. For the week, the NASDAQ soared 4.4 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent and the Dow eased 0.2 percent.

The pullback on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on Thursday's rally amid lingering concerns about turmoil in the financial sector.

Traders also looked ahead to Wednesday's Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. CME Group's FedWatch tool currently indicates a 43.2 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged and a 56.8 percent chance of a 25 basis point rate hike.

In economic news, the Fed said U.S. industrial production was unexpectedly unchanged in February. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. fell for the first time in four months in March.

Crude oil prices sank Friday as rising concerns about the health of the banking sector continued to fuel worries about economic growth and the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April dropped $1.61 or 2.4 percent at $66.74 a barrel. WTI crude futures tumbled 13 percent in the week.