Indonesia Shares May Hand Back Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 120 points or 1.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 7,660-point plateau although it's likely to turn lower again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key inflation data. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the cement companies and mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks.

For the day, the index advanced 60.99 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 7,658.88 after trading between 7,581.05 and 7,672.29.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri spiked 2.85 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia sank 0.75 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 0.46 percent, Bank Central Asia strengthened 1.47 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia shed 0.48 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia collected 0.87 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison lost 0.70 percent, Indocement rose 0.35 percent, Semen Indonesia climbed 1.26 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur added 0.37 percent, United Tractors jumped 1.65 percent, Astra International tanked 2.43 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 1.92 percent, Aneka Tambang retreated 1.36 percent, Vale Indonesia dipped 0.27 percent, Timah dropped 0.96 percent, Bumi Resources advanced 1.09 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga, Astra Agro Lestari and Jasa Marga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and mostly remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 159.08 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 41,091.42, while the NASDAQ sank 198.79 points or 1.12 percent to end at 17,556.03 and the S&P 500 lost 33.62 points or 0.60 percent to close at 5,592.18.

The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected anxiety ahead of the release of market leader Nvidia's (NVDA) fiscal second quarter results after the close of trading.

After the markets closed, Nvidia showed a profit for its second quarter that increased from last year and beat estimates.

Stocks were also under pressure as traders looked ahead to Friday's Commerce Department report on personal income and spending in July, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. While the data is not likely to affect optimism the Fed will lower rates next month, it could impact expectations for how quickly the central bank cuts rates.

Crude oil futures dropped Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, and on data showing a much smaller than expected drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October sank $1.01 or 1.34 percent at $74.52 a barrel.