Indonesia Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Monday

The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 55 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,860-point plateau although it may find traction on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, although bargain hunting would likely limit any downside. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index declined 40.63 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 6,859.91.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri fell 0.43 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 0.55 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.54 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 0.90 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison dipped 0.26 percent, Indocement slid 0.44 percent, Semen Indonesia tanked 2.89 percent, Indofood Suskes sank 0.70 percent, United Tractors surrendered 2.55 percent, Astra International plunged 3.33 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 2.54 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rose 0.32 percent, Aneka Tambang lost 0.51 percent, Vale Indonesia retreated 1.22 percent, Timah skidded 1.09 percent, Bumi Resources improved 0.74 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga and Bank Danamon Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Friday but recovered to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 25.96 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 34,500.66, while the NASDAQ shed 26.12 points or 0.20 percent to close at 13,290.78 and the S&P 500 eased 0.65 points or 0.01 percent to end at 4,369.71.

For the week, the Dow shed 2.2 percent, the S&P lost 2.1 percent and the NASDAQ sank 2.6 percent.

The lack of direction on Wall Street came as traders remained cautious amid concerns the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates higher for longer to control inflation.

The market had maintained a negative bias thanks to hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting and higher bond yields, but bargain hunting pared the losses.

Oil prices climbed higher Friday, extending gains from the previous session after data indicated a drop in output, while a weaker dollar contributed as well to the uptick in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures added $0.86 or 1.1 percent to $81.25 a barrel. WTI Crude futures shed 2 percent for the week.