Lower Open Called For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the three-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 190 points or 3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,300-point plateau and it's expected to open under water again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, still weighed by higher crude oil prices and treasury yields. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to be looking at a soft start.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index tumbled 76.31 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 6,298.61 after trading between 6,287.46 and 6,368.57.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened firmly lower but recovered by midday to finish mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 161.61 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 51,349.98, while the NASDAQ perked 3.34 points or 0.01 percent to close at 26,929.37 and the S&P 500 eased 1.90 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,704.13.

The rebound from the early slump was triggered in part by reports indicating U.S. and Iranian negotiators are discussing a phased deal to end the prolonged Middle East conflict.

Treasury yields also surged on the day, with the ten-year yield reaching its highest closing level since July 2007 amid the jump in crude oil futures and concerns about inflation and interest rates.

Crude oil prices could not hold an early spike on Thursday but still managed to finish significantly higher, thanks to a lack of clarity about peace talks in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $2.58 or 2.8 percent to finish at $94.74 a barrel.