Narrow Trading Range Anticipated For Indonesia Shares

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday halted the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than a dozen points or 0.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,845-point plateau and it's likely to turn lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns about growth and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The JCI finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the cement companies and a mixed performances from the financial and resource companies.

For the day, the index perked 1.70 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 6,844.94.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia surrendered 1.75 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia accelerated 1.99 percent, Bank Central Asia tumbled 1.71 percent, Bank Mandiri collected 1.00 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia gained 1.07 percent, Indocement strengthened 1.35 percent, Semen Indonesia rose 0.35 percent, Indofood Suskes plunged 3.09 percent, United Tractors skidded 1.16 percent, Astra International improved 0.82 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 5.88 percent, Astra Agro Lestari advanced 0.90 percent, Aneka Tambang added 0.50 percent, Vale Indonesia rallied 1.47 percent, Timah slipped 0.42 percent, Bumi Resources retreated 1.47 percent and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday in a volatile session, finally ending mixed.

The Dow rose 5.14 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 32,661.84, while the NASDAQ lost 76.06 points or 0.66 percent to close at 11,379.48 and the S&P 500 sank 18.76 points or 0.47 percent to end at 3,951.39.

The choppy trading on Wall Street followed the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management on U.S. manufacturing activity in February. While the index improved to 47.7 from 47.4 in January, it remained in contraction.

The report also showed the prices index jumped to 51.3 in February from 44.5 in January, indicating a spike in raw materials prices after four months of decline - which added to recent concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

Treasury yields jumped following the release of the report, with the 10-year yield reaching its highest levels in over three months.

Crude oil futures settled at near two-week high on Wednesday, boosted by upbeat China factory data that raised the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.64 or 0.8 percent at $77.69 a barrel.