Higher Open Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the two-day break for the Saka New Year, the Indonesia stock market had finished higher in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled almost 220 points or 3.3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,690-point plateau and it's likely to return to the upside on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday as the financial shares and resource stocks were mostly in the green.

For the day, the index jumped 79.12 points or 1.20 percent to finish at the daily high of 6,691.61 after moving as low as 6,609.22.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia advanced 1.10 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.41 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia spiked 2.50 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 1.19 percent, Bank Mandiri surged 5.00 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.41 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison improved 0.73 percent, Indocement lost 0.49 percent, Semen Indonesia rallied 2.88 percent, Indofood Suskes retreated 1.21 percent, United Tractors dropped 0.81 percent, Energi Mega Persada gained 0.95 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rose 0.32 percent, Aneka Tambang sank 0.79 percent, Vale Indonesia slipped 0.39 percent, Timah soared 3.14 percent, Bumi Resources increased 0.84 percent and Astra International was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened firmly higher Thursday, faded into negative territory as the day progressed before a late rally pushed them into the green.

The Dow added 75.14 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 32,105.25, while the NASDAQ surged 117.44 points or 1.01 percent to end at 11,787.40 and the S&P 500 rose 11.75 points or 0.30 percent to close at 3,948.72.

The early rally on Wall Street came as traders continued to react to Wednesday's monetary policy announcement by the Federal Reserve, which indicated the central bank is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as concerns about the recent trouble in the banking sector continue to hang over the markets.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a slight decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Commerce Department said new home sales in the U.S. increased from a significantly downwardly revised level in February.

Oil prices drifted lower Thursday on concerns the interest rate hikes by several central banks could slow down economic growth and impact the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.94 or 1.3 percent at $69.96 a barrel.