Dow Jones – Indonesia Stock Market May Tick Higher On Monday

(RTTNews) – Ahead of the long weekend break for New Year’s day, the Indonesia stock market had moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 55 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 5,980-point plateau although it may find support on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed thanks to ongoing coronavirus concerns and apprehension about the U.S. political scene as Republicans continue to try to overturn results of the presidential election. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index lost 44.22 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 5,979.07 after trading between 5,962.01 and 6,055.97.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia tanked 3.38 percent, while Bank Mandiri skidded 1.17 percent, Bank CIMB Niaga tumbled 1.49 percent, Indosat plunged 3.81 percent, Indocement spiked 3.02 percent, Semen Indonesia eased 0.20 percent, Indofood Suskes added 0.37 percent, Astra Agro Lestari surged 5.12 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 5.45 percent, Bukit Asam sank 2.43 percent, Perusahaan Gas retreated 1.49 percent and Bumi Resources surrendered 1.37 percent and Vale Indonesia and Timah were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as stocks showed a lack of direction on Thursday before finally moving higher to end in the green.

The Dow climbed 196.88 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 30,606.48, while the NASDAQ rose 18.28 points or 0.14 percent to end at 12,888.28 and the S&P 500 gained 24.03 points or 0.64 percent to close at 3,756.07.

The gains capped off a strong year for U.S. stocks, which moved sharply higher in 2020 despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

For the year, the Dow jumped 7.3 percent, the S&P 500 surged 16.3 percent and the tech-heavy NASDAQ skyrocketed 43.6 percent – benefitting from the stay-at-home orders issued in response to the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

On the economic front, the Labor Department released a report unexpectedly showing a modest drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended December 26.

Crude oil futures settled modestly higher on Thursday despite concerns about the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rose $0.12 or 0.3 percent at $48.52 a barrel. WTI Crude oil futures lost 21 percent in 2020, while Brent crude futures tumbled more than 22 percent.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release December figures for inflation and consumer confidence later today. Overall inflation is tipped to rise 0.37 percent on month and 1.61 percent on year after gaining 0.28 percent on month and 1.59 percent on year in November. Core CPI is expected to gain 1.70 percent, up from 1.67 percent a month earlier. The consumer confidence index score was 92.0 in November.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.