Indonesia Bourse Tipped To Erase Friday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 100 points or 1.2 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 8,160-point plateau, although it's likely to bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with earnings optimism tempered by interest rate pessimism. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index fell 20.19 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 8,163.88 after trading between 8,144.08 and 8,215.55.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.58 percent, while Bank Mandiri retreated 1.67 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia soared 4.47 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia shed 0.68 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia jumped 1.79 percent, Semen Indonesia rallied 1.47 percent, United Tractors plunged 3.84 percent, Astra International tumbled 1.99 percent, Energi Mega Persada slumped 1.20 percent, Astra Agro Lestari fell 0.32 percent, Aneka Tambang lost 0.64 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.06 percent, Timah sank 0.37 percent, Bumi Resources gained 0.71 percent and Bank Central Asia, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Indocement and Indofood Sukses Makmur were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday, dipped midday but rebounded into the close to finish in the green.

The Dow added 40.75 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 47,562.87, while the NASDAQ climbed 143.81 points or 0.61 percent to end at 23,724.96 and the S&P 500 rose 17.86 points or 0.26 percent to close at 6,840.20. For the week, the NASDAQ surged 2.2 percent, the Dow added 0.8 percent and the S&P gained 0.7 percent.

The early strength on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Amazon (AMZN), which reached a new record closing high after reporting better than expected third quarter results amid a sharp increase in revenue.

Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates contributed to the volatility on Wall Street following Federal Reserve Jerome Powell's remarks earlier this week.

While the Fed lowered interest rates by another quarter point as widely expected on Wednesday, Powell's post-meeting remarks partly offset optimism about another rate cut in December.

Crude oil prices edged higher Friday following reports the U.S. intends to strike Venezuelan military installations. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.41 or 0.68 percent at $60.98 per barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release September trade data and October figures for consumer prices later today. Imports are expected to rise 1.0 percent on year after sinking 6.56 percent in August. Exports are called higher by an annual 7.72 percent, up from 5.78 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $4.79 billion, down from $5.49 billion a month earlier. In September, overall inflation was up 0.21 percent on month and 2.65 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 2.19 percent.