The Indonesia stock market has closed higher now in two straight trading days, gathering more than 20 points or 0.5 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index finished just above the 3,985-point plateau, although now investors are expected to lock in gains when the market kicks off trade on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests a mild withdrawal following uninspired gross domestic product figures from the United States and lingering debt concerns from Europe. Some of the regional bourses are ripe for profit-taking, adding to the cautious sentiment while prompting support for gold as a safe haven. The European markets finished lower on Friday and the U.S. bourses were mixed but little changed - and the Asian markets are also expected to slide.
The JCI finished barely higher on Friday, nudged into the green by gains from the resource sector.
For the day, the index added 2.98 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 3,986.41 after trading between 3,969.46 and 3,992.90. Volume was 4.04 billion shares worth 5.07 trillion rupiah. There were 122 gainers and 89 decliners.
Among the actives, Vale Indonesia surged 6.7 percent, while Aneka Tambang spiked 5.6 percent, Alam Sutera Realty climbed 3.2 percent and Unilever Indonesia shed 1.2 percent.
Wall Street puts forth little guidance as stocks were lackluster on Friday with traders digesting weaker than expected U.S. economic growth in the final three months of last year.
Before the start of trading, the Commerce Department said GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the 1.8 percent growth seen in the third quarter - but shy of expectations for an increase of 3.1 percent. Economists were also disappointed that much of the GDP growth in the fourth quarter was due to a positive contribution from private inventory investment.
However, Reuters and the University of Michigan said their consumer sentiment index for January was upwardly revised to a reading of 75.0 from the mid-month reading of 74.0, coming in well above the final December reading of 69.9. The revised reading also marked an eleven-month high for the consumer sentiment index, which is at its best level since coming in at 77.5 last February.
Among individual stocks, auto giant Ford (F) fell by 4.2 percent after reporting weaker than expected fourth quarter earnings due to weakness overseas. Procter & Gamble (PG) also ended the day in the red after the consumer products giant reported a sharp drop in fourth quarter earnings and lowered its full-year earnings guidance.
Meanwhile, Honeywell (HON) rose by 0.8 percent after reporting fourth quarter earnings that came in just above analyst estimates on revenues that came in slightly below expectations.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ closing in positive territory. The NASDAQ rose 11.27 points or 0.4 percent to 2,816.55, while the Dow fell 74.17 points or 0.6 percent to 12,660.46 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.11 points or 0.2 percent to 1,316.32. For the week, the major averages also turned in a mixed performance. While the Dow fell by 0.5 percent, the NASDAQ advanced by 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 edged up by 0.1 percent.
In economic news, Bank Indonesia Governor Darmin Nasution said on Friday that Indonesia's inflation probably eased to around 3.5 percent in January from 3.79 percent in December. Consumer prices are expected to record 0.6 percent to 0.7 percent increase on a monthly basis in January. The central bank has set an inflation target of 3.5 to 5.5 percent for 2012 and 2013.
Earlier this month, the bank decided to keep its key interest rate unchanged for the second time in a row with the board of governors judging that the current interest rate is consistent with achieving the inflation target.
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