Indonesia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in back-to-back session, collecting more than 150 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,210-point plateau although the rally may stall on Thursday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on lingering concerns about the health of the U.S. economy. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The JCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the food and resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector. For the day, the index climbed 82.92 points or 1.16 percent to finish at 7,212.13 after trading between 7,147.29 and 7,246.26. Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.56 percent, while Bank Mandiri accelerated 2.26 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia increased 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 0.50 percent, Bank Central Asia and Energi Mega Persada both climbed 1.00 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.43 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison jumped 1.65 percent, Indocement slumped 1.40 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.26 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rose 0.41 percent, United Tractors spiked 2.38 percent, Astra International added 0.43 percent, Astra Agro Lestari dropped 0.87 percent, Timah gained 0.55 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 2.74 percent and Aneka Tambang and Vale Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened solidly higher on Wednesday but faded as the day progressed, finally ending with significant losses.

The Dow stumbled 234.21 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 38,763.45, while the NASDAQ sank 171.05 points or 1.05 percent to end at 16,195.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 40.53 points or 0.77 percent to close at 5,199.50.

Stocks initially continued to benefit from bargain hunting, as traders picked up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the recent sell-off.

Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy continued to hang over the markets.

Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday as data showed a much larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended up $2.03 or 2.75 percent at $75.23 a barrel.