Higher Open Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 60 points or 0.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,860-point plateau and it's expected to find additional support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the Federal Reserve didn't raise its benchmark lending rate more than expected on Wednesday. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were firmly higher and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the resource stocks, weakness from the cement companies and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index added 22.92 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 6,862.26.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia improved 0.75 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga jumped 1.69 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dipped 0.27 percent, Bank Central Asia perked 0.29 percent, Bank Mandiri tanked 2.51 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected2.18 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison retreated 1.64 percent, Indocement dropped 1.00 percent, Semen Indonesia skidded 1.01 percent, Indofood Suskes declined 1.12 percent, United Tractors added 0.71 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 6.25 percent, Astra Agro Lestari fell 0.30 percent, Aneka Tambang rallied 2.60 percent, Vale Indonesia spiked 2.02 percent, Timah accelerated 1.60 percent, Bumi Resources strengthened 1.31 percent and Astra International was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up positive as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday and spent most of the day that way before a late push bumped them into the green.

The Dow rose 6.92 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 23,092.96, while the NASDAQ surged 231.77 points or 2.00 percent to close at 11,816.32 and the S&P 500 jumped 42.61 points or 1.05 percent to end at 4,119.21.

The late-day rally on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by another quarter point and signaled further rate hikes. The latest interest rate hike comes after the central bank raised rates by 75 basis points in November and by 50 basis points in December.

The Fed also said it anticipates ongoing increases in interest rates will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector job growth slowed more than expected in January. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said activity in the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for the third consecutive month in January.

Oil prices fell to a three-week low on Wednesday, weighed down by data showing an increase in crude inventories last week in the U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March sank $2.46 or 3.1 percent at $76.41 a barrel.