The losing streak has reached five sessions now for the Indonesian stock market, costing it more than 125 points or 9 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index slid beneath support at 1,150 points - but investors are hopeful that the market can creep back above that level when it kicks off trade on Monday.
The global forecast remains vague, with continued volatility likely on tap. Unease over the state of the world's financial sector continues to spark concerns of a deep global recession - due in large part to the uncertainty surrounding Citigroup. Persistent weak economic data out of the United States adds to the uneasiness - despite huge gains on Wall Street on the final day of the trading week. Many of the Asian markets began their own recovery midway through trade on Friday, and some of these could ease on profit taking - although others remain overdue for a positive correction.
The JCI finished modestly lower on Friday, but well off of the sharp 4 percent declines at the opening. The market got a boost in the afternoon from bargain hunting, although the financials and heavyweights still finished the session in the red.
For the day, the index eased 8.69 points or 0.75 percent to close at 1,146.28 after trading between 1,102.67 and 1,157.67. Telkom Indonesia paced the decliners with a 4.35 percent fall, while Bank Rakyat slipped 2.9 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks experienced another volatile trading day on Friday, ending the session sharply higher after spending most of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. The uncertainty in the broader markets came as some positive corporate news partly offset the overwhelming nervousness surrounding the global economy.
The late day strength in the markets that contributed to the higher close was partly due to reports that president-elect Barack Obama has selected New York Federal Reserve President Tim Geithner as his nominee for Treasury Secretary. The news eliminated some of the uncertainty that has been hampering the markets recently.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's survey of forecasters projected that GDP will decline 2.9 in the fourth quarter of 2008, and then by 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, a sharp downward revision from the forecast three months ago, when both the fourth quarter 2008 and first quarter 2009 were expected to see slightly positive GDP.
On the corporate front, Citigroup (C) is exploring the possibility of selling parts of the company or an outright sale following the plunge in its stock price, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
In other news, President Bush signed into a law an extension of unemployment relief in an attempt to help people laid off during the current economic turmoil. The law extends emergency unemployment compensation to 20 weeks and creates a second tier of 13 weeks of compensation for people in states with high unemployment rates. Bush's signing of the law came a day after government data indicated that initial claims for unemployment benefits had jumped to a 16-year high last week.
The major averages moved sharply higher going into the close, ending the session at or near their best levels of the day. The Dow closed up 494.13 points or 6.5 percent at 8,046.42, the Nasdaq closed up 68.23 points or 5.2 percent at 1,384.35 and the S&P 500 closed up 47.59 points or 6.3 percent at 800.03. Despite Friday's strong gains, the major averages still all closed lower for the third straight week. The Dow showed a 5.3 percent decline for the week, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 posted weekly losses of 8.7 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.