On Friday morning, the IDX Composite fell 15 points or 0.24 percent to 6,395.073, while the index of 45 most liquid stocks or "LQ45" opened lower 3.86 points or 0.38 percent to 1,004.104.
According to research by Valbury Securities here on Friday, the IDX Composite is still consolidating amid the political situation ahead of the elections.
“Despite the positive trend from the United States and China's talks (over the trade war), the challenging global sentiments and also the elections that will be held next week have weakened the movements of the IDX Composite,” Valbury Securities chief researcher Alfiansyah stated.
Meanwhile, some positive domestic sentiments have cropped up, especially after Bank Indonesia (the central bank)’s survey announcement that indicated business enhancement in the agriculture, farming, forestry, and fishery sectors in the first quarter of 2019.
The enhancements occurred after the harvest season, indicating productive capacity and effective farming labor that is higher than that of the fourth quarter of last year.
At the same time, external sentiments might also have a positive impact, one of which is from US Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin who claimed that US and China have settled over a trade agreement mechanism and created teams. However, Mnuchin refused to talk about a tariff penalty to ensure China that would stay in the agreement.
“Mnuchin’s statement gave us hope that US and China will make peace, even though investors are supposed to be careful until the agreement is officially signed,” Alfiansyah noted.
While Asian regional stocks opened varied, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index weakened 33.1 points or 0.11 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up 26.62 points or 0.12 percent, among others.
Translator: Azizah Fitriyanti, Suwanti
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
