Win Streak May Continue For Indonesia Bourse

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, improving more than 210 points or 3.1 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,040-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing inflation and tariff concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and food companies and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index gained 60.28 points or 0.86 percent to finish at 7,040.16 after trading between 7,002.37 and 7,076.74.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri soared 5.45 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.41 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia accelerated 2.97 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 4.40 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison spiked 3.98 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rallied 2.86 percent, United Tractors declined 1.48 percent, Astra International rose 0.21 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 5.56 percent, Vale Indonesia tanked 2.07 percent, Timah retreated 1.32 percent, Bumi Resources skyrocketed 8.55 percent and Astra Agro Lestari, Aneka Tambang, Semen Indonesia, Bank CIMB Niaga, Bank Central Asia and Indocement were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly positive as the major averages opened in the red on Thursday but rallied to finish mixed.

The Dow jumped 271.69 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 42,322.75, while the NASDAQ dipped 34.49 points or 0.18 percent to close at 19,112.32 and the S&P 500 added 24.35 points or 0.41 percent to end at 5,916.93.

The choppy trading on day came as traders digested an avalanche of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing producer prices unexpectedly decreased in the month of April.

Another report from the Commerce Department showed a slight increase by U.S. retail sales in April. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve said industrial production in the U.S. was unchanged in the month of April.

Crude oil futures showed a substantial move to the downside on Thursday on reports the U.S. is very close to reaching a nuclear deal with Iran. Crude for June delivery plunged $1.53 or 2.4 percent to $61.62 a barrel.