Little Movement Seen For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 215 points or 3.2 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,600-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that neighborhood again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly upbeat, with bargain hunting expected among especially the technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index improved 19.1 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 2,206.18.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.60 percent, while Bank Mandiri climbed 1.03 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia retreated 1.62 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia spiked 2.84 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.63 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison added 0.62 percent, Indocement gained 0.41 percent, Semen Indonesia plunged 3.94 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur declined 1.28 percent, United Tractors lost 0.43 percent, Astra International rose 0.44 percent, Energi Mega Persada stumbled 2.56 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rallied 1.30 percent, Aneka Tambang dipped 0.31 percent, Jasa Marga plummeted 5.56 percent, Vale Indonesia surged 4.73 percent, Timah advanced 1.01 percent, Bumi Resources tumbled 1.96 percent and Bank Central Asia and Bank Maybank Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages hugged the line on Wednesday, finishing mixed and roughly flat as investors waited until after close for results from NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA).

The Dow stumbled 188.04 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 43,433.12, while the NASDAQ added 48.88 points or 0.26 percent to close at 19,075.26 and the S&P 500 perked 0.81 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,956.06.

Wall Street saw some early bargain hunting following recent weakness in the markets, but mostly investors were waiting on the NVIDIA results.

After the bell, NVIDIA unveiled Q4 earnings that increased from last year, beat estimates slightly and provided positive guidance. That fueled choppy but not negative trade after hours.

In economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial pullback by new home sales in the U.S. in January.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand as the Trump administration's tariff policies are expected to slow global economic growth. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April settled lower by $0.31 at $68.62 a barrel.