Indonesia Stock Market Expected To Open Lower On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Thursday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 30 points or 0.4 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just shy of the 7,220-point plateau although it's likely to hand back those gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on recession fears and concern over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the resource stocks and mixed performances from the financials and cement companies.

For the day, the index added 30.59 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 7,218.91.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.37 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga strengthened 1.36 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.28 percent, Bank Mandiri dropped 0.81 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia was up 0.22 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison soared 3.97 percent, Indocement sank 0.74 percent, Semen Indonesia advanced 1.04 percent, United Tractors rallied 2.26 percent, Astra International rose 0.35 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 2.21 percent, Astra Agro Lestari climbed 1.13 percent, Vale Indonesia added 0.38 percent, Timah perked 0.36 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank Central Asia, Aneka Tambang and Indofood Suskes were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street continues to be weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the session.

The Dow shed 107.10 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 30,076.68, while the NASDAQ tumbled 153.39 points or 1.37 percent to end at 11,066.81 and the S&P 500 sank 31.94 points or 0.84 percent to close at 3,757.99.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected continued concerns about the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's third straight 75-basis point interest rate hike on Wednesday.

While the Fed's economic projections provided a clearer outlook for future rate hikes, traders are concerned about the impact the aggressive rate increases will have on the economy. Several other central banks around the world followed the Fed's lead, including the Bank of England, which raised interest rates by 50 basis points in a split decision.

In economic news, Labor Department reported an uptick in jobless claims last week, while the Conference Board said its leading economic index fell by 0.3 percent in August after sliding by a revised 0.5 percent in July.

Crude oil prices settled higher on Thursday on concerns about tight supplies amid geopolitical tensions in Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended higher by $0.55 or 0.7 percent at $83.49 a barrel.