Higher Open Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 25 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,960-point plateau and it's got an encouraging lead for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive thanks to encouraging economic data. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index collected 23.86 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 6,959.33.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga improved 0.61 percent, while Bank Mandiri shed 0.43 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia gained 0.35 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia rallied 1.07 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.28 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia perked 0.46 percent, Indocement dropped 0.91 percent, Semen Indonesia gathered 0.36 percent, Indofood Suskes plunged 2.90 percent, United Tractors advanced 0.83 percent, Astra International added 0.40 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 2.76 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rose 0.34 percent, Aneka Tambang sank 0.78 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 0.86 percent, Timah plunged 2.40 percent, Bumi Resources surged 4.62 percent and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened solidly higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow surged 331.58 points or 0.96 percent to finish at 34,907.11, while the NASDAQ spiked 112.47 points or 0.81 percent to end at 13,926.05 and the S&P 500 improved 37.66 points or 0.84 percent to close at 4,505.10.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in the month of August.

Also, the Labor Department said producer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in month of August. However, the data does not raise concerns about inflation, as the increase in prices was largely due to a spike in energy prices.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday as concerns over the outlook for crude supplies outweighed worries about energy demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended higher by $1.64 or 1.9 percent at $90.16 a barrel, the highest settlement in almost 10 months.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide August figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to sink 9.55 percent on year after shedding 8.32 percent in July. Exports are predicted to plummet an annual 23.4 percent after dropping 18.03 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $1.50 billion, up from $1.31 billion a month earlier.