Indonesia Stock Market Has Firm Lead For Thursday's Trade

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, gathering almost 40 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,900-point plateau and it's looking at another green light for Thursday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on encouraging news for interest rates. The European markets had modest gains and the U.S. bourses surged, and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index gained 26.68 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 6,898.22.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rallied 2.00 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia gathered 1.30 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.34 percent, Bank Mandiri climbed 1.25 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 0.23 percent, Indosat Ooredoo spiked 2.77 percent, Semen Indonesia tanked 2.28 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.63 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 6.76 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations improved 0.72 percent, Astra Agro Lestari was up 0.27 percent, Aneka Tambang fell 0.28 percent, Vale Indonesia dropped 0.88 percent, Timah gained 0.70 percent, Bumi Resources advanced 0.93 percent and Astra International, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Indocement and Indofood Suskes were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but skyrocketed late in the day after the FOMC rate decision.

The Dow spiked 436.05 points or 1.37 percent to finish at 32,197.59, while the NASDAQ surged 469.85 points or 4.06 percent to end at 12,032.42 and the S&P 500 jumped 102.56 points or 2.62 percent to close at 4,023.61.

Stocks were steady in early trading and then accelerated to the upside following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference.

While the Fed announced another 75-basis-point interest rate, as widely expected, comments from Powell hinted at a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes at future meetings.

Crude oil prices surged higher Wednesday after data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while cuts in Russian gas flows to Europe also contributed as oil's sharp rise. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $2.28 or 2.4 percent at $97.26 a barrel.