Additional Support Anticipated For Indonesia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the eight-day winning streak in which it had plummeted almost 1,100 points or 16 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,160-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran war. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Friday following big gains from the resource stocks, while weakness from the financial shares limited the upside.

For the day, the index gained 67.10 points or 1.10 percent to finish at 6,162.05 after trading between 5,966.86 and 6,171.97.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga lost 0.60 percent, while Bank Mandiri slumped 1.20 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia stumbled 1.95 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia declined 0.53 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 0.84 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 0.99 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison contracted 1.44 percent, Indocement jumped 1.87 percent, Semen Indonesia was down 0.56 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur shed 0.37 percent, United Tractors fell 0.21 percent, Astra International tumbled 3.57 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 22.13 percent, Astra Agro Lestari climbed 1.15 percent, Aneka Tambang jumped 4.04 percent, Vale Indonesia surged 18.84 percent, Timah soared 14.38 percent and Bumi Resources accelerated 12.80 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained modestly in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow climbed 294.00 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 50,579.70, while the NASDAQ rose 50.87 points or 0.19 percent to close at 26,343.97 and the S&P 500 added 27.75 points or 0.37 percent to end at 7,473.47.

For the week, the Dow surged 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 0.9 percent and the NASDAQ increased by 0.5 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came amid persistent optimism about an end to the U.S.-Iran war even as crude oil and gasoline prices remained elevated going into the busy Memorial Day weekend.

In economic news, a report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated much more than previously estimated in the month of May.

Crude oil prices ticked higher on Friday as traders weighed concerns of an impending crude oil inventory shortage against the positive signals from U.S.-Iran peace talks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was up $0.10 or 0.10 percent at $96.45 per barrel.