Rally May Stall For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has tracked higher in five straight sessions, climbing more than 250 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,735-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on decent earnings and economic news. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and cement companies, while the resource stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index jumped 86.10 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 7,735.04 after trading between 7,657.72 and 7,758.67.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga slumped 1.29 percent, while Bank Mandiri spiked 3.21 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.38 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia added 0.46 percent, Bank Central Asia accelerated 2.39 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia gained 0.61 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia rallied 2.65 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison stumbled 2.03 percent, Indocement surged 6.76 percent, Semen Indonesia soared 5.54 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.52 percent, Astra International eased 0.20 percent, Energi Mega Persada jumped 5.31 percent, Astra Agro Lestari climbed 2.28 percent, Aneka Tambang improved 3.18 percent, Jasa Marga retreated 1.43 percent, Vale Indonesia fell 0.24 percent, Timah sank 0.73 percent, Bumi Resources skyrocketed 6.57 percent and Indofood Sukses Makmur was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but ebbed and flowed as the day progressed, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow climbed 161.35 points or 0.37 percent to finish at a record 43,239.05, while the NASDAQ rose 6.53 points or 0.04 percent to close at 18,373.61 and the S&P 500 dipped 1.00 point or 0.02 percent to end at 5,841.47.

Strength among semiconductor stocks supported the markets for much of the session before a late-day pullback, although the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index still ended up 1.0 percent.

The strength in the sector came after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) reported a sharp increase in third quarter profits.

In economic news, Commerce Department said retail sales increased more than expected in September. Also, the Labor Department noted an unexpected pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Oil futures snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday, supported by data showing an unexpected drop in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November added $0.28 or 0.4 percent at $70.67 a barrel.