Soft Start Expected For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in consecutive trading days, improving more than 55 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 6,825-point plateau although it's tipped to open lower on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing concerns over the health of the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The JCI finished barely higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the resource stocks.

For the day, the index rose 3.77 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 6,824.43.

Among the actives, Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.80 percent, while Bank Central Asia skidded 1.15 percent, Bank Mandiri shed 0.50 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rallied 1.43 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison surged 5.26 percent, Indocement tanked 2.03 percent, Indofood Suskes retreated 1.45 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.41 percent, Astra International climbed 1.32 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rose 0.31 percent, Aneka Tambang lost 0.49 percent, Timah improved 0.43 percent, Bumi Resources advanced 1.20 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank CIMB Niaga, Semen Indonesia, Jasa Marga, Vale Indonesia and Energi Mega Persada were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened deep in the red and the losses accelerated as the day progressed.

The Dow tumbled 348.99 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 33,037.49, while the NASDAQ plunged 233.25 points or 2.18 percent to close at 10,476.12 and the S&P 500 dropped 56.05 points or 1.45 percent to end at 3,822.39.

The pullback on Wall Street came as some traders cashed in on Wednesday's gains amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the global economy.

Stocks saw further downside following the release of a report from the Conference Board showing a continued slump by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of November.

Crude oil futures pared early gains and settled lower on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak as the dollar advanced on rate hike bets. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended $0.80 lower at $77.49 a barrel, falling from a high of $79.90 a barrel.