Rally May Stall For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in two straight trading days, advancing more than 85 points or 1.1 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Jakarta Composite Index sits just above the 8,125-point plateau although it's due for profit taking on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with technology shares expected to fall under pressure. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the resource stocks were offset by weakness from the cement and telecom sectors and a mixed picture from the financial shares. For the day, the index perked 1.36 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 8,126.56 after trading between 8,077.84 and 8,169.02. Among the actives, Bank Mandiri shed 0.45 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.42 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia fell 0.24 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.27 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia improved 0.72 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison tumbled 1.88 percent, Indocement plunged 3.20 percent, Semen Indonesia lost 0.69 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rallied 1.29 percent, United Tractors stumbled 2.02 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 6.57 percent, Astra Agro Lestari dipped 0.31 percent, Aneka Tambang plummeted 5.45 percent, Vale Indonesia rose 0.23 percent, Timah skyrocketed 22.18 percent, Bumi Resources soared 6.43 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga and Astra International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday but gradually turned lower and finished solidly in the red.

The Dow shed 171.50 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 46,121.28, while the NASDAQ lost 75.62 points or 0.33 percent to close at 22,497.86 and the S&P 500 sank 18.95 points or 0.28 percent to end at 6,637.97.

The extended pullback on Wall Street may have reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the artificial intelligence trade following Tuesday's weakness.

AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) slid by 0.9 percent after tumbling by 2.8 percent on Tuesday, while fellow AI player Oracle (ORCL) slumped by 1.7 percent.

Concerns about valuations may also have continued to weigh on the markets after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggesting he believes stocks may be overvalued.

Crude oil prices soared on Wednesday due to the increasing likelihood of Russian oil exports facing heavy U.S. sanctions. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for November delivery was up $1.61 or 2.54 percent at $65.02 per barrel.