Notes

Indonesia Market May Reclaim 5,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The losing streak has stretched to five sessions now for the Indonesia stock market, which has tumbled nearly 115 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index settled just below the 4,990-point plateau, although the market may reverse those losses on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is roughly flat thanks to a mixed reaction to U.S. employment data, which points to continued strength in the American economy but also raised some concerns about the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed but little changed, and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower again on Friday as the financial shares and resource stocks were mostly lower.

For the day, the index tumbled 46.81 points or 0.93 percent to finish at 4,987.42 after trading between 4,979.20 and 5,040.97. Volume was 4.78 billion stocks worth 4.48 trillion rupiah. There were 195 decliners and 95 gainers, with 84 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Astra Agro Lestari shed 0.43 percent, while Aneka Tambang lost 1.06 percent, Bank Central Asia plunged 2.12 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia dipped 0.25 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia climbed 1.33 percent, Bank Mandiri tumbled 1.45 percent, Bumi Resources lost 0.77 percent, Energi Mega Persada collected 0.92 percent and XL Axiata fell 0.48 percent.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as stocks showed a lack of direction on Friday before closing roughly flat. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The NASDAQ edged down 5.94 points or 0.1 percent to 4,632.53, while the Dow added 19.46 points or 0.1 percent to 17,573.93 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.71 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,031.92.

For the week, the NASDAQ inched slightly higher, while the Dow jumped 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent. The Dow and the S&P 500 both reached new record closing highs.

The non-farm payroll report was a mixed bag, showing weaker than expected job growth in October, although the jobless rate still fell to a six-year low of 5.8 percent.

With the drop, the unemployment rate hit its lowest level since July of 2008, fueling concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets also contributed to the lackluster performance following the recent strength in the markets.