Indonesia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 160 points or 2.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,250-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation, largely on profit taking following recent gains. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the food, finance and cement sectors were capped by weakness from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index advanced 66.86 points or 0.93 percent to finish at 7,246.70 after trading between 7,201.92 and 7,270.76.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga strengthened 1.34 percent, while Bank Mandiri fell 0.39 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia sank 0.74 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia surged 3.48 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 1.05 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.41 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison added 0.46 percent, Indocement rallied 2.26 percent, Semen Indonesia spiked 2.10 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur advanced 0.82 percent, United Tractors shed 0.45 percent, Astra International accelerated 3.97 percent, Astra Agro Lestari dropped 0.82 percent, Vale Indonesia dipped 0.22 percent, Timah lost 0.53 percent, Bumi Resources improved 1.08 percent and Aneka Tambang and Energi Mega Persada were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up soft as the major averages spent most of Thursday in the green before a late wave of profit taking nudged them under water.

The Dow shed 38.62 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 39,869.38, while the NASDAQ sank 44.07 points or 0.26 percent to close at 16,698.32 and the S&P dipped 11.05 points or 0.21 percent to end at 5,297.10.

The early strength on Wall Street reflected an extension of the rally seen during Wednesday's session, which came amid optimism about the outlook for interest rates following tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, with traders pausing to lock in recent gains.

In economic news, the Labor Department noted a pullback by initial jobless claims last week. Also, a separate Labor Department report showed U.S. import prices jumped more than expected in April, and industrial production came in flat last month.

Oil prices advanced on Thursday, continuing to benefit from recent data showing a larger than expected decline in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. Hopes of an interest rate cut in September contributed as well to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.60 at $79.23 a barrel.