Indonesia Stock Market Has Flat Lead For Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting almost 65 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,680-point plateau although it may be stuck in neutral on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key U.S. jobs data later today. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, cement stocks and food companies, while the resource plays were mixed.

For the day, the index perked 8.15 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 7,681.04 after trading between 7,650.80 and 7,722.23.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rallied 1.60 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.38 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia spiked 1.87 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.49 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 0.98 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison jumped 1.62 percent, Indocement rose 0.37 percent, Semen Indonesia strengthened 1.26 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur soared 4.10 percent, United Tractors lost 0.45 percent, Astra International added 0.50 percent, Astra Agro Lestari surged 5.81 percent, Jasa Marga accelerated 2.39 percent, Vale Indonesia sank 0.54 percent, Timah climbed 1.02 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank Mandiri, Bank Maybank Indonesia, Energi Mega Persada and Aneka Tambang were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains conflicted as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and hugged the line for most of the day, finally ending little changed.

The Dow shed 219.22 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 40,755.75, while the NASDAQ added 43.36 points or 0.25 percent to close at 17,127.66 and the S&P 500 sank 16.66 points or 0.30 percent to end at 5,503.41.

The mixed performance on Wall Street followed the release of mixed readings on employment ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

Economists expect employment to add 160,000 jobs in August after rising by 114,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to ease to 4.2 percent in August from 4.3 percent in July, which was its highest level since October 2021.

Before the start of trading, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of August.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday due to concerns about the outlook for demand, although the downside was limited by reports that OPEC has postponed plans to boost production next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $0.05 at $69.15 a barrel, the lowest settlement in about nine months.