Indonesia Bourse Expected To Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 50 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just shy of the 6,880-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to better than expected U.S. employment data. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished barely lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 3.19 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 6,878.05 after trading between 6,877.44 and 6,922.73.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.30 percent, while Bank Mandiri shed 0.63 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia stumbled 1.24 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 0.86 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison lost 0.47 percent, Indocement soared 2.39 percent, Semen Indonesia rallied 2.29 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur strengthened 1.57 percent, United Tractors advanced 0.94 percent, Astra International increased 0.66 percent, Energi Mega Persada gained 0.61 percent, Astra Agro Lestari improved 0.87 percent, Aneka Tambang surged 4.35 percent, Vale Indonesia added 0.58 percent, Timah spiked 2.99 percent, Bumi Resources dropped 0.88 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the shortened session ahead of the July 4 holiday.

The Dow rallied 344.11 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 44,828.53, while the NASDAQ jumped 207.97 points or 1.02 percent to close at 20,601.10 and the S&P 500 gained 51.93 points or 0.83 percent to end at 6,279.35.

The continued strength on Wall Street followed the release of the Labor Department report showing U.S. employment increased more than expected in June. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 147,000 jobs in June after jumping by an upwardly revised 144,000 jobs in May.

Traders reacted positively to the data even though the stronger than expected job growth is likely to reduce the chances of a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil settled lower on Thursday as excess U.S. inventories and an upcoming OPEC+ meeting triggered supply side concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.45, to settle at $67 per barrel.