The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in seven straight sessions, sinking almost 580 points or 9.2 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 5,860-point plateau and it is overdue for support on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests further volatility thanks to ongoing short-selling issues. The Asian markets have a solidly negative lead from Europe and the U.S. - and they may open that way, but bargain hunters may emerge later in the day to boost the oversold bourses.
The JCI finished sharply lower again on Friday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks, in particular.
For the day, the index skidded 117.04 points or 1.96 percent to finish at 5,862.35 after trading between 5,825.29 and 6,068.13.
Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.35 percent, while Bank Mandiri plunged 6.74 percent, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.58 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia sank 3.90 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia lost 6.49 percent, Bank Central Asia slid 2.03 percent, Indosat surrendered 2.90 percent, United Tractors tanked 4.29 percent, Indocement added 0.56 percent, Semen Indonesia cratered 5.99 percent, Indofood Suskes retreated 4.35 percent, Astra Agro Lestari climbed 1.13 percent, Aneka Tambang dropped 6.72 percent, Vale Indonesia jumped 1.85 percent, Timah plummeted 6.89 percent and Bumi Resources declined 6.58 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened solidly in the red on Friday and saw the losses accelerate as the session progressed - offsetting gains from the previous day.
The Dow plummeted 620.78 points or 2.03 percent to finish at 29,982.62, while the NASDAQ tumbled 266.46 points or 2.00 percent to end at 13,070.69 and the S&P 500 lost 73.14 points or 1.93 percent to close at 2,714.24. For the week, the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P all fell 3.5 percent.
The sell-off on Wall Street reflected concerns about recent market volatility of heavily shorted stocks like GameStop (GME) and AMC Entertainment (AMC) - which moved sharply higher after Robinhood eased restrictions on certain stocks that have recently skyrocketed.
The spikes by the heavily shorted stocks have been described as a retail investor revolt, raising concerns that hedge funds may have to sell other securities to make up for their losses.
In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a much bigger than expected increase in personal income in December, along with a modest decrease in personal spending. Also, the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment deteriorated more than expected in January.
Crude oil futures settled lower Friday as worries about the outlook for energy demand due to rising coronavirus cases and delays in vaccine supplies weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended down $0.14 or 0.3 percent at $52.20 a barrel.
Closer to home, Indonesia will release January data for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.36 percent on month and 1.66 percent on year for overall inflation - down from 0.45 percent on month and 1.68 percent on year in December. Core CPI is tipped to rise 1.53 percent on year, slowing from 1.60 percent in the previous month.
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