Indonesia Bourse Likely To Remain Rangebound On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 130 points or 1.8 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,080-point plateau and it's expected to stay in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat and directionless on conflicting leads over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets are expected to follow suit.

The JCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the resource and cement stocks and a mixed bag from the financial sector.

For the day, the index dipped 2.93 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 7,080.35 after trading between 7,046.17 and 7,129.29.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga dropped 0.86 percent, while Bank Mandiri spiked 2.68 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.17 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.23 percent, Bank Central Asia strengthened 1.57 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rallied 1.24 percent, Indocement tanked 3.33 percent, Semen Indonesia plunged 4.09 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rose 0.34 percent, United Tractors stumbled 2.61 percent, Astra International surrendered 2.24 percent, Energi Mega Persada retreated 1.68 percent, Astra Agro Lestari sank 0.82 percent, Aneka Tambang shed 0.35 percent, Jasa Marga tumbled 1.79 percent, Vale Indonesia declined 1.44 percent, Timah lost 0.50 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 4.17 percent and Bank Maybank Indonesia and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests little movement as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday, bounced back and forth across the line all day before ending mixed and largely unchanged.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following the release of mixed U.S. jobs data.

While payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector job growth slowed more than expected in December, the Labor Department said weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell to their lowest level in almost 11 months.

While the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting later in the day, they did not provide much insight into the outlook for interest rates other than to suggest officials plan to take a "careful approach" to future decisions.

Oil futures closed lower on Wednesday as a sharp increase in gasoline stockpiles and a stronger dollar weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended lower by $0.93 or 1.25 percent at $73.32 a barrel.