Additional Support Expected For Indonesia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 310 points or 3.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 8,270-point plateau and it's tipped to open to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with oil and technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the finance, cement, telecom and food sectors, while the resource stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index rallied 121.80 points or 1.49 percent to finish at 8,274.35 after trading between 8,179.61 and 8,292.89.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.59 percent, while Bank Mandiri accelerated 2.31 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia soared 5.21 percent, Bank Central Asia strengthened 1.52 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rallied 3.24 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison surged 6.20 percent, Indocement improved 0.82 percent, Semen Indonesia jumped 3.50 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur vaulted 2.79 percent, United Tractors climbed 1.58 percent, Astra International expanded 2.43 percent, Energi Mega Persada advanced 3.17 percent, Aneka Tambang rose 0.63 percent, Vale Indonesia added 0.48 percent, Timah sank 0.38 percent, Bumi Resources stumbled 2.21 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia and Astra Agro Lestari were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened slightly higher and trended generally to the upside throughout the session.

The Dow climbed 144.20 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 46,734.61, while the NASDAQ jumped 201.40 point or 0.89 percent to close at 22,941.80 and the S&P 500 added 39.04 points or 0.58 percent to end at 6,738.44.

The slow start on Wall Street followed mixed corporate earnings news as companies like Tesla (TSLA) and IBM Corp. (IBM) disappointed but Honeywell (HON) beat the street.

Crude oil surged on Thursday, extending gains from the past two sessions, as the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russian oil majors. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $3.22 or 5.50 percent at $61.72 per barrel.

Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked 4.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index jumped 3.0 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 4.0 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Networking, semiconductor and steel stocks also saw considerable strength, while transportation stocks moved to the downside.