Indonesia Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 15 points or 0.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,190-point plateau and it's expected to remain rangebound again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed amid a lack of catalysts, with optimism over the outlook for interest rates preventing any heavy selling. The European and U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index rose 14.97 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 7,190.99 after trading between 7,169.43 and 7,215.94.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.60 percent, while Bank Mandiri dropped 0.84 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.40 percent, Bank Central Asia jumped 1.93 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison shed 0.52 percent, Semen Indonesia added 0.40 percent, Indofood Suskes slumped 1.17 percent, United Tractors dropped 0.82 percent, Astra International rose 0.44 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 2.73 percent, Aneka Tambang strengthened 1.83 percent, Vale Indonesia strengthened 1.20 percent, Timah advanced 0.81 percent, Bumi Resources surged 4.60 percent and Indocement, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Astra Agro Lestari and Bank Rakyat Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Friday and finished the same way, little changed.

The Dow added 56.76 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 37,305.16, while the NASDAQ gained 52.32 points or 0.35 percent to close at 14,813.92 and the S&P 500 eased 0.36 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,719.19.

The major averages all closed higher for the seventh consecutive week. The Dow and the NASDAQ both surged by 2.9 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped by 2.5 percent.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a breather following the recent upward move by the markets, although optimism about the outlook for interest rates continued to support the markets.

On the U.S. economic front, the Federal Reserve released a report showing a modest rebound in U.S. industrial production in November.

Oil futures posted their first weekly gain in two months despite settling on a slightly weak note on Friday. An upward revision in oil demand forecast by the International Energy Agency and a weak dollar pushed up crude oil prices over the past few sessions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January eased $0.15 at $71.43 a barrel on Friday but added 0.2% for the week.