Indonesia Bourse Tipped To Remain Rangebound

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 40 points or 0.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 8,235-point plateau and it's expected to tick lower again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative following the outbreak of hostilities between the United States and Israel against Iran. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished barely higher on Friday as gains from the resource stocks were dented by losses in the financial sector.

For the day, the index perked 0.22 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 8,235.49 after trading between 8,093.75 and 8,246.95.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga dropped 0.80 percent, while Bank Mandiri slumped 0.94 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.70 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.35 percent, Bank Central Asia tumbled 1.71 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia skidded 1.01 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison fell 0.43 percent, Indocement contracted 1.98 percent, Semen Indonesia climbed 1.04 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur tanked 4.09 percent, United Tractors plunged 5.92 percent, Astra International sank 0.74 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 8.64 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.67 percent, Aneka Tambang rose 0.46 percent, Vale Indonesia skyrocketed 11.27 percent, Timah spiked 3.37 percent and Bumi Resources was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower and remained in the red throughout the trading day, ending near session lows.

The Dow tumbled 521.28 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 48,977.92, while the NASDAQ sank 210.17 points or 0.92 percent to end at 22,668.21 and the S&P 500 lost 29.98 points or 0.43 percent to close at 6,878.88.

For the week, the Dow tumbled 1.3 percent, the NASDAQ slumped 1.0 percent and the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent.

The continued weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased 0.5 percent in January, more than the expected 0.3 percent.

The jump in producer prices along with concerns about AI-related layoffs led to worries about a period of stagflation. Adding to recent concerns about potential AI disruptions, Block (XYZ) said it is cutting its workforce by nearly half.

Crude oil prices spiked on Friday amid growing concerns about a military conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for April surged $1.71 or 2.6 percent to $66.92 barrel - although it's expected to jump sharply again now that hostilities have broken out.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release January trade data and February inflation figures later today. In December, imports were up 10.81 percent on year and exports rose 11.64 percent for a trade surplus of $2.52 billion. In January, overall inflation dipped 0.15 percent on month but rose 3.55 percent on year, while core CPI gained an annual 2.45 percent.