The Indonesian stock market has ended lower now in back-to-back sessions, shedding more than 85 points or 3.3 percent in the process. The Jakarta Composite Index moved below the 2,520-point plateau, but now analysts are forecasting a mild rebound when the market opens for business on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic after many of the bourses suffered brutal losses at the end of last week. Firmer commodity prices - especially gold and oil - will provide support, along with technology, airline and financial stocks. The European markets ended sharply lower, while the U.S. bourses tracked slightly higher - and now the Asian markets are also predicted to move to the upside.
The JCI finished sharply lower on Friday, in line with other regional declines, thanks to heavy losses among the financial stocks and resource shares.
For the day, the index plunged 74.24 points or 2.86 percent to finish at 2,518.98 after trading between 2,506.89 and 2,592.41. Volume was 6 billion shares worth 4.4 trillion rupiah.
Among the decliners, Telkom Indonesia shed 3.2 percent and Astra International lost 2.8 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as stocks were able to advance by modest margins on Friday after a significantly volatile session. The major averages closed in positive territory after spending most of the day in the red.
Stocks plunged in the early afternoon on concerns about the labor market, but the major averages staged a strong recovery amid speculation the European Union would concoct a solution to Greece's debt problems.
The recovery was also spurred by a report from the Federal Reserve showing that the contraction in consumer credit markets slowed by much more than expected. Consumer credit fell by $1.73 billion in December after a revised $21.8 billion decline in November. Economists had been expecting credit to decrease by a much more substantial $10.0 billion compared to the $17.5 billion decrease originally reported for the previous month.
Stocks saw some weakness after the Labor Department reported that non-farm payroll employment declined by 20,000 jobs in January following a revised decrease of 150,000 jobs in December. Economists had forecast employment to edge up by 15,000 jobs compared to the loss of 85,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The Labor Department report also said that the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9.7 percent in January from 10.0 percent in December. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 10.0 percent.
Trucking company Con-way Inc. (CNW) reported a fourth quarter loss that narrowed from last year and saw revenues that came in ahead of Street estimates.
Meat products producer Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) recorded a first-quarter profit and revenues that topped expectations, while Aetna (AET) failed to meet fourth-quarter profit forecasts amid growing medical costs but beat projections on the revenue front.
The Dow gained 10.05 points or 0.1 percent to end at 10,012.23, the NASDAQ advanced by 15.69 points or 0.7 percent to 2,141.12 and the S&P 500 rose by 3.08 points or 0.3 percent to 1,066.19. Despite the recovery, the major averages fell for a fourth straight week due largely to the sell-off seen on Thursday. The Dow slipped by 0.5 percent, while the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 declined by 0.3 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
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