Higher Open Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, stumbling more than 100 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,225-point plateau although it's poised to open to the upside on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid earnings news and interest rate optimism. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and cement companies.

For the day, the index lost 54.57 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 7,224.29.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia climbed 1.16 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia dropped 0.90 percent, Bank Central Asia skidded 1.00 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tumbled 1.87 percent, Indocement fell 0.34 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur lost 0.42 percent, United Tractors rose 0.21 percent, Astra International tanked 2.01 percent, Vale Indonesia rallied 2.98 percent and Bank Mandiri and Semen Indonesia were unchanged.

The Dow surged 742.76 points or 1.85 percent to finish at a record 40,945.48, while the NASDAQ added 36.77 points or 0.20 percent to close at 18,509.34 and the S&P 500 rose 35.98 points or 0.64 percent to end at 5,667.20 - also a record.

The strength on Wall Street reflected positive earnings news from the likes of UnitedHealth (UNH), Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

Traders also reacted positively to the latest U.S. economic news, including a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales came in unchanged in June. The Labor Department also released a report showing import prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat last month while export prices slid 0.5 percent.

Gold stocks also saw significant strength amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.4 percent. The index reached a more than two-year closing high.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses to a third straight session amid concerns about the outlook for demand and a slightly stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August sank $1.15 or 1.4 percent at $80.76 a barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates later today; the bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate (6.25 percent), deposit facility rate (5.50 percent) and lending facility rate (7.00 percent) unchanged.