Higher Open Called For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 65 points or 0.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,080-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets finished higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index advanced 69.24 points or 0.99 percent to finish at 7,081.31.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.43 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia surged 5.60 percent, Bank Central Asia soared 3.62 percent, Bank Mandiri jumped 1.94 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia spiked 2.68 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison rose 0.42 percent, Indocement and Aneka Tambang both climbed 1.02 percent, Indofood Suskes rallied 1.98 percent, United Tractors perked 0.33 percent, Energi Mega Persada lost 0.59 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.60 percent, Vale Indonesia improved 1.03 percent, Timah plunged 3.92 percent, Bumi Resources retreated 1.62 percent and Astra International, Bank Danamon Indonesia and Semen Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up sharply positive as the major averages opened fairly flat and stayed that way before exploding higher late in the day.

The Dow surged 737.24 points or 2.18 percent to finish at 34,589.77, while the NASDAQ soared 484.22 points or 4.41 percent to end at 11,468.00 and the S&P 500 rallied 122.48 points or 3.09 percent to close at 4,080.11.

The rally on Wall Street came as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks provided further evidence the central bank plans to slow its aggressive pace of interest rate hikes as soon as next month.

The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for December 13-14, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 77.0 percent chance of a 50-basis point rate hike and a 23.0 percent chance of a fifth straight 75-basis point rate hike.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP noted slower than expected private sector job growth in November, while the Commerce Department reported an unexpected upward revision to GDP growth in the third quarter.

Crude oil futures surged on Wednesday after data showed a steep drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. Expectations of increased demand from China and a weaker dollar also contributed to the jump in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.35 or 3 percent at $80.55 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release November numbers for consumer prices later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.16 percent on month and 5.5 percent on year following the 0.11 percent monthly decline and the 5.71 percent annual increase in October. Core CPI is tipped to rise 3.4 percent on year, up from 3.31 percent a month earlier.