Indonesia Bourse May Pick Up Steam On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market ticked higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the modest two-day winning streak in which it had picked up more than 35 points or 0.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 7,745-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit, although profit taking may take hold later in the day.

The JCI finished barely higher on Thursday as gains from the resource stocks were offset by weakness from the financial shares.

For the day, the index rose 3.61 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 7,744.52 after trading between 7,673.05 and 7,763.08.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga dipped 0.26 percent, while Bank Mandiri fell 0.35 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.38 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia plunged 5.16 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison spiked 2.03 percent, Indocement declined 1.43 percent, Semen Indonesia increased 0.78 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur added 0.70 percent, United Tractors shed 0.55 percent, Astra International added 0.48 percent, Energi Mega Persada jumped 1.90 percent, Astra Agro Lestari improved 0.74 percent, Aneka Tambang slumped 1.04 percent, Jasa Marga advanced 0.81 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.26 percent, Timah accelerated 1.77 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 1.65 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Maybank Indonesia and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and maintained a positive bias throughout the session.

The Dow rallied 260.36 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 42,175.11, while the NASDAQ jumped 108.09 points or 0.60 percent to end at 18,190.29 and the S&P 500 added 23.11 points or 0.40 percent to close at 5,745.37.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected strength in the tech sector, with chipmaker Micron (MU) helping lead the way higher after reporting better than expected quarterly results and providing strong fiscal revenue guidance.

Stocks also benefited from the release of upbeat U.S. economic data after the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week. The Commerce Department also reported that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in August.

Oil prices fell sharply on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about excess supply in the market after reports said OPEC will return 2.2 million barrels per day of production cuts back into the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $2.02 or 2.9 percent at $67.67 a barrel.