Higher Open Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 60 points or 0.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,910-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks. For the day, the index lost 27.32 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 6,914.54 after trading between 6,872.87 and 6,946.03. Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia declined 1.39 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga slid 0.41 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dipped 0.26 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 0.84 percent, Bank Mandiri retreated 1.45 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison surrendered 1.59 percent, Indocement weakened 1.50 percent, Semen Indonesia eased 0.33 percent, Indofood Suskes slumped 1.11 percent, United Tractors improved 0.51 percent, Astra International dropped 0.87 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.62 percent, Aneka Tambang fell 0.45 percent, Vale Indonesia plunged 2.46 percent, Bumi Resources skidded 1.37 percent and Timah, Energi Mega Persada and Bank Rakyat Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday but improved steadily throughout the session and finished in the green.

The Dow added 38.78 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 34,128.05, while the NASDAQ jumped 110.45 points or 0.92 percent to end at 12,070.59 and the S&P 500 rose 11.47 points or 0.28 percent to close at 4,147.60.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the release of upbeat retail sales data.

The sharp increase in retail sales has led to concerns the Federal Reserve will be encouraged to continue aggressively raising interest rates in an effort to combat inflation.

The concerns about rates may have been partly offset by a separate report from the Federal Reserve showing U.S. industrial production was unexpectedly unchanged in January.

Crude oil prices came off daily lows but still moved solidly lower on Wednesday, hurt by a stronger U.S. dollar and a spike in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate was down $0.47 or 0.6 percent to $78.59 per barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.75 percent.