Indonesia Stock Market May Run Out Of Steam On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in nine straight sessions, advancing more than 460 points or 7.5 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,340-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to solid earnings news. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday with gains across the board, especially among the resource and energy companies.

For the day, the index jumped 108.24 points or 1.74 percent to finish at the daily high of 6,340.02 after trading as low as 6,247.35.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow jumped 385.38 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 52,224.64, while the NASDAQ advanced 329.13 points or 1.29 percent to end at 25,837.21 and the S&P 500 gained 65.92 points or 0.89 percent to close at 7,509.20.

A positive reaction to some of the latest earnings news inspired traders to pick up stocks such as 3M (MMM), General Motors (GM) and Novartis (NVS) at reduced levels.

Strength among technology stocks also contributed to the rally, as reflected by the jump by the tech-heavy NASDAQ, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index soaring 5.9 percent and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping 5.2 percent.

Crude oil prices spiked on Tuesday as the U.S. attacked Iran for the 10th straight day, reinforcing supply concerns due to the Strait of Hormuz crisis. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $1.77 or 2.13 percent at $85.00 per barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the benchmark lending rate (5.75 percent), deposit facility rate (4.75 percent) and lending facility rate (6.50 percent) are all seen unchanged.