Bargain Hunting May Boost Indonesia Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six 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 8,805-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with geopolitical concerns expected to war with bargain hunting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board, especially among the food, finance, cement and resource sectors, although the energy companies offered support.

For the day, the index plummeted 218.65 points or 2.66 percent to finish at the daily low of 8,016.83 after peaking at 8,133.69.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga retreated 1.89 percent, while Bank Mandiri tanked 3.79 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia surrendered 4.23 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia declined 2.27 percent, Bank Central Asia stumbled 2.09 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia contracted 2.30 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison crashed 4.33 percent, Indocement plunged 4.03 percent, Semen Indonesia tumbled 4.79 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur sank 0.78 percent, United Tractors added 0.35 percent, Astra International plummeted 5.62 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed by the 25 percent daily limit, Astra Agro Lestari slumped 1.33 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 5.98 percent, Vale Indonesia cratered 7.28 percent, Timah dipped 0.22 percent and Bumi Resources dropped 3.88 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Monday but gradually came back and hugged the line for the rest of the day, ending mixed.

The Dow sank 73.14 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 48,904.78. while the NASDAQ gained 80.65 points or 0.36 percent to close at 22,748.86 and the S&P 500 rose 2.74 points or 0.04 percent to end at 6,881.62.

Early selling pressure was generated in reaction to the news that the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran over the weekend, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The subsequent turnaround came as traders used the initial sell-off as an opportunity to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the Dow hit its lowest intraday level in two months.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of February.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $4.08 or 6.1 percent to $71.10 a barrel.