Higher Open Called For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the four-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 250 points or 3.7 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,180-point plateau and it's likely to extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is firm on an improved outlook for interest rates. 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 as gains from the financial shares and cement companies were capped by weakness from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index gained 34.90 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 7,160.10.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri rose 0.40 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia added 0.39 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.27 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 1.01 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.66 percent, Indocement rallied 2.00 percent, Semen Indonesia spiked 2.02 percent, United Tractors soared 4.93 percent, Astra International advanced 0.88 percent, Vale Indonesia tumbled 1.71 percent and Indofood Sukses Makmur was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is inconsistent as the major averages opened slightly higher on Wednesday and hugged the line for the first half of the day before diverging to finish mixed.

The Dow dipped 23.90 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 39,308.00, while the NASDAQ gained 159.54 points or 0.88 percent to end at a record 18,188.30 and the S&P 500 added 28.01 points or 0.51 percent to close at 5,537.02 - also a record.

The strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates following the release of weaker than expected economic data.

The Institute for Supply Management showed an unexpected contraction by U.S. service sector activity in June. Also, the Labor Department noted a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

However, overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued and treasuries moved notably higher in reaction to the weaker than expected data. The markets closed earlier than usual and remain closed for the Independence Day holiday on Thursday.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed a much larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while a weaker dollar also lent support. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended up by $1.07 at $83.88 a barrel.