Lower Open Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has tracked lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 40 points or 0.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,950-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with tech shares likely to weigh. The European and U.S. markets were mixed but little changed and the Asian markets are likely to open in similar fashion on Friday.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financials and mixed performances from the cement and resource stocks.

For the day, the index lost 41.15 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 6,954.81.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri plunged 2.89 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.00 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 0.78 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.27 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia plummeted 2.24 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison rose 0.26 percent, Indocement sank 0.70 percent, Indofood Suskes climbed 1.09 percent, United Tractors dropped 0.91 percent, Astra International tumbled 1.92 percent, Energi Mega Persada slumped 2.16 percent, Astra Agro Lestari retreated 1.31 percent, Aneka Tambang added 0.51 percent, Timah rallied 1.14 percent, Bumi Resources surrendered 2.05 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga, Semen Indonesia and Vale Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened mixed and finished little changed in similar fashion.

The Dow rose 57.54 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 34,500.73, while the NASDAQ sank 123.64 points or 0.89 percent to end at 13,748.83 and the S&P 500 fell 14.34 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,451.14.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates after the Labor Department reported an unexpected drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

The Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, but CME Group's FedWatch Tool indicates a 43.4 percent chance of another rate hike in November.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ was weighed by weakness from Apple (AAPL) after reports said China plans to expand a ban on the use of iPhones in sensitive departments to government-backed agencies and state companies.

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday, despite a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. Profit taking after recent strong gains was largely responsible as West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.67 or 0.9 percent at $86.87 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will see August results for its consumer confidence index later today; in July, the index reading was 123.5.