Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian composite index (IHSG) began this Friday's trading ahead of the Eid al-Fitr long holidays on a positive note.

After opening IHSG, the index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) rose 6.41 points, or 0.11 percent, to 6,110.52 points. In the meantime, the index of the 45 most-traded stocks, known as the LQ45 index, gained 2.2 points, or 0.23 percent, to 961.54 points.

Head of Research at Valbury Securities Alfiansyah noted that apart from external factors, market players will take into account the Eid al-Fitr long holidays with regard to their portfolio security as a precautionary measure against uncertainty in the global market.

"It is estimated that stock trading is prone to profit-taking during this time," Alfiansyah remarked.

One of the external factors is the escalating trade war between the United States and China after the latter decided to curb the exports of rare minerals, including rare earth metals. China's threat came at a time when Huawei attempted to challenge US President Donald Trumps's decision in a court in Texas.

Huawei remarked that Trump's decision to blacklist Huawei over charges of its manufactured equipment being deployed for spying on the US government ran counter to the US Constitution.

This morning, Asian stock markets, such as Nikkei plunged 148.82 points, or 0.71 percent, to 20,793.71; Hang Seng rose 19.44 points, 0.77 percent, to 27,134.32; and the Straits Times Index fell 17.54 points, 0.56 percent, to 3,125.46.

Translator: Citro / Azis Kurmala, Lulu
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
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