Indonesia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 50 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,300-point plateau although it's likely to open under water on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests profit taking, particularly among the technology sectors. 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 slightly higher again on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, cement stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index added 13.37 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 7,300.41 after trading between 7,274.06 and 7,328.27.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri collected 0.39 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia gained 1.04 percent, Bank Central Asia dipped 0.25 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia eased 0.21 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison soared 4.55 percent, Indocement advanced 1.02 percent, Semen Indonesia dropped 0.99 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur slumped 1.25 percent, United Tractors slid 0.21 percent, Astra International shed 0.66 percent, Energi Mega Persada sank 0.93 percent, Astra Agro Lestari lost 0.44 percent, Aneka Tambang climbed 1.12 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 4.52 percent, Timah rallied 4.12 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 2.47 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia and Bank CIMB Niaga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is largely negative as the major averages opened lower on Thursday; the Dow inched barely into the green, while the S&P and NASDAQ retreated from record highs.

The Dow rose 32.39 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 39,753.75, while the NASDAQ plummeted 364.04 points or 1.95 percent to close at 18,283.41 and the S&P 500 sank 49.37 points or 0.88 percent to end at 5,584.54.

Optimism about the outlook for interest rates contributed to early strength on Wall Street, although it quickly waned as traders seem to have already priced in a rate cut in September.

The subsequent sell-off came as traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets, with some of the biggest tech winners of the year like AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) leading the pullback.

Nonetheless, the Federal Reserve is still seen as likely to lower rates in September after a report from the Labor Department showing showed prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in June.

Oil futures settled higher on Thursday, lifted by hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve after the encouraging inflation data. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.52 at $82.62 a barrel.