Higher Open Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 45 points or 0.7 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,820-point plateau and it's looking at another firm lead for Thursday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly positive on bargain hunting and expectations for solid earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the resource stocks and a mixed performance from the financial sector.

For the day, the index improved 52.35 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 6,820.66.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia improved 0.72 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.42 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 1.06 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 1.17 percent, Bank Mandiri shed 0.50 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia fell 0.41 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison lost 0.44 percent, Semen Indonesia sank 0.74 percent, Indofood Suskes skidded 1.08 percent, United Tractors eased 0.09 percent, Energi Mega Persada gained 0.68 percent, Astra Agro Lestari fell 0.31 percent, Aneka Tambang strengthened 1.49 percent, Vale Indonesia increased 0.35 percent, Bumi Resources jumped 1.22 percent and Astra International, Indocement and Timah were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and remained solidly in the green throughout the session.

The Dow surged 526.74 points or 1.60 percent to finish at 33,376.48, while the NASDAQ spiked 162.26 points or 1.54 percent to end at 10,709.37 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.82 points or 1.49 percent to close at 3,878.44.

The rally on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from bargain hunting and upbeat earnings news from companies like Nike (NKE) and FedEx (FDX).

In economic news, the Conference Board reported a significant improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in December. But the National Association of Realtors noted a continued slump in U.S. existing home sales in November.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended higher by $2.06 at $78.29 a barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank's benchmark lending rate currently sits at 5.25 percent.