Indonesia Bourse May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 60 points or 0.78 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 8,420-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on a declining outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the telecoms and mixed performances from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index rose 13.34 points or 0.13 percent to finish at the daily low of 8,419.92 after peaking at 8,491.43.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.28 percent, while Bank Mandiri jumped 1.86 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 0.59 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia dipped 0.25 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison climbed 0.94 percent, Semen Indonesia tumbled 2.21 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur improved 0.71 percent, United Tractors slumped 1.10 percent, Astra International added 0.39 percent, Energi Mega Persada skidded 1.06 percent, Astra Agro Lestari advanced 0.96 percent, Aneka Tambang shed 0.67 percent, Vale Indonesia stumbled 2.06 percent, Timah fell 0.32 percent, Bumi Resources dropped 0.88 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia and Indocement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages were unable to hold early gains on Thursday and finished deeply under water.

The Dow stumbled 386.51 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 45,752.26, while the NASDAQ plummeted 486.18 points or 2.15 percent to close at 22,078.05 and the S&P 500 dropped 103.40 points or 1.56 percent to end at 6,538.76.

The early rally on Wall Street was a positive reaction to highly anticipated earnings news from market leader and AI darling Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected third quarter results and providing upbeat guidance - although the stock tumbled later in the day.

The subsequent downturn by the broader markets reflected concerns about the outlook for interest rates after the release of the Labor Department's long-delayed jobs report for September. While the report showed an unexpected uptick by the unemployment rate, job growth in September far exceeded economist estimates.

The mixed data further eroded confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by another quarter point in December. While CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicates the chances of a rate cut next month have risen to 39.8 percent from 30.1 percent on Wednesday, that figure is down sharply from 98.8 percent a month ago.

Crude oil prices edged lower on Thursday as investors assessed reports of renewed efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war ahead of the U.S. deadline. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was down $0.27 or 0.44 percent at $59.18 per barrel.