Lower Open Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had spiked more than 220 points or 2.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 8,100-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on disappointing data and continued weakness from technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the food, resource and financial shares, while the cement companies were mixed.

For the day, the index lost 42.84 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 8,103.88 after trading between 8,102.79 and 8,214.46.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga sank 0.79 percent, while Bank Mandiri climbed 1.00 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.13 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.30 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia shed 0.52 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison lost 0.47 percent, Indocement tanked 2.66 percent, Semen Indonesia jumped 1.96 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur slumped 0.71 percent, United Tractors declined 1.62 percent, Astra International soared 4.12 percent, Energi Mega Persada dropped 0.87 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rose 0.33 percent, Aneka Tambang plunged 4.51 percent, Vale Indonesia crashed 4.55 percent, Timah tumbled 1.82 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 2.44 percent and Bank Central Asia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent the entire session in the red, ending near daily lows.

The Dow tumbled 592.58 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 48,908.72, while the NASDAQ sank 363.99 points or 1.59 percent to end at 22,540.59 and the S&P 500 shed 84.32 points or 1.23 percent to close at 6,798.40.

Weakness among tech stocks continued to weigh on Wall Street amid losses from Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Qualcomm (QCOM), which provided disappointing guidance.

Tech stocks have moved sharply lower over the past few sessions amid concerns about valuations and the impact of artificial intelligence.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week. The Labor Department also said job openings in the U.S. unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in over five years in December.

Crude oil prices plunged on Thursday after weak U.S. jobs data increased demand concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $1.87 or 2.87 percent at $63.27 per barrel.