Indonesia Shares Likely To Remain Rangebound

The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the previous six trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,300-point plateau although it may head south again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement, with many countries still off for the Lunar New Year holiday. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index gained 62.52 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 7,297.67 after trading between 7,250.31 and 7,306.16.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga surged 7.02 percent, while Bank Mandiri accelerated 2.16 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 2.52 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia increased 3.48 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 1.03 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rose 2.99 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison spiked 3.16 percent, Indocement climbed 1.14 percent, Semen Indonesia advanced 0.81 percent, Indofood Suskes gained 0.79 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.42 percent, Astra International shed 0.47 percent, Energi Mega Persada jumped 1.51 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.73 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 3.90 percent, Vale Indonesia skyrocketed 10.93 percent, Timah rallied 3.67 percent and Bumi Resources improved 1.18 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened flat, quickly moved higher but then faded, with only the Dow holding its gains and hitting a fresh record close.

The Dow gained 125.69 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 38,797.38, while the NASDAQ sank 48.12 points or 0.30 percent to close at 15,942.54 and the S&P 500 eased 4.77 points or 0.09 percent to end at 5,021.84.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a breather following recent strength, which has lifted the S&P 500 above 5,000 for the first time. The NASDAQ has also shown a significant advance in recent sessions, closing in on the record highs set in November 2021.

A lack of major U.S. economic data also kept some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several key reports in the coming days. Later today, the Labor Department is due to release its report on consumer price inflation for January, which could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Treasuries fluctuated on Monday before eventually ending the day modestly higher. After an early move to the upside, bond prices gave back ground but rebounded in the afternoon. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, eased 1.5 basis points to 4.172 percent.

Crude oil futures settled roughly flat on Monday as demand concerns outweighed potential supply disruptions. The dollar’s recovery from lower levels also weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled at $76.92 a barrel, up $0.08 from the previous close.