(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Friday halted the three-day losing streak in which it had retreated more than 120 points or 2.4 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 5,060-point plateau although it's expected to turn lower again on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft with continued pressure expected on the technology stocks, along with concerns over the economic recovery. The European and U.S. markets were down on Friday and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.
The JCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the food and cement companies, while the financials and resource stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index collected 20.82 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 5,059.22 after trading between 5,023.44 and 5,072.68.
Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia soared 4.85 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga skidded 1.29 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.42 percent, Indosat advanced 0.94 percent, Indocement surged 6.18 percent, Semen Indonesia rose 0.27 percent, Indofood Suskes climbed 1.69 percent, Astra Agro Lestari plummeted 6.71 percent, Aneka Tambang jumped 1.94 percent, Vale Indonesia gained 1.03 percent and Timah, Bank Mandiri and Bumi Resources were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks initially showed a lack of direction on Friday but fell firmly under pressure as the day progressed, extending recent losses.
The Dow dropped 244.58 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 27,657.42, while the NASDAQ skidded 117.02 points or 1.07 percent to end at 10,793.28 and the S&P 500 fell 37.54 points or 1.12 percent to close at 3,319.47. For the week, the Dow fell 0.1 percent and the NASDAQ and S&P both sank 0.6 percent.
The weakness on Wall Street was due to a continued slump by technology stocks, with tech giant Apple (AAPL) showing a significant drop. Big-name tech companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Microsoft (MSFT) also posted notable losses.
Traders also expressed concerns for the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement and economic assessment. With the elections less than two months away, lawmakers seem unlikely to pass another stimulus bill to help the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
In economic news, the Conference Board noted a continued increase in its leading U.S. economic indicators in August. Also, the University of Michigan saw a bigger than expected improvement in consumer sentiment in September.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Friday as prices edged up following a sharp drop in U.S. crude stockpiles and OPEC's move to press for better compliance with output cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.14 or 0.3 percent at $41.11 a barrel.
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