Rally May Stall For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has tracked higher in six straight sessions, accelerating more than 410 points or 4.7 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Jakarta Composite Index sits just beneath the 8,950-point plateau although it's overdue for profit taking on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, as traders are expected to lock in gains with several markets at or near record highs. The European and U.S. markets were mostly in the red and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The JCI finished slightly higher on Wednesday as gains from the resource stocks were offset by weakness from the financial sector.

For the day, the index improved 11.20 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 8,944.81 after trading between 8,916.03 and 8,970.87.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.56 percent, while Bank Mandiri retreated 1.43 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dropped 0.94 percent, Bank Central Asia fell 0.31 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia added 0.54 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison lost 0.46 percent, Indocement plunged 6.69 percent, Semen Indonesia improved 0.77 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur tanked 3.93 percent, United Tractors gained 0.72 percent, Astra International jumped 1.81 percent, Energi Mega Persada rose 0.31 percent, Astra Agro Lestari increased 0.65 percent, Aneka Tambang skyrocketed 11.59 percent, Vale Indonesia surged 12.44 percent, Timah vaulted 5.69 percent and Bumi Resources stumbled 2.59 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line for much of the day before a late slump saw them end mixed.

The Dow dropped 466.00 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 48,996.08, while the NASDAQ rose 37.10 points or 0.16 percent to close at 23,584.28 and the S&P 500 sank 23.89 points or 0.34 percent to end at 6,920.93.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess the recent strength in the markets, which lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs on Tuesday.

Traders were also digesting the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment increased less than expected in December.

Also, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. fell more than expected in November, while the Institute for Supply Management noted an unexpected increase by its reading on U.S. service sector activity in December.

Crude oil prices plunged again on Wednesday due to emerging supply side concerns following U.S. attempts to gain control of Venezuelan oil wealth. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was down $1.11 or 1.94 percent at $56.02 per barrel.