Indonesia Shares Called To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last seven trading days since the end of the five-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 220 points or 3.1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,250-point plateau and it may extend Thursday's gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology and oil companies expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the resource, telecom and energy companies were capped by weakness from the financial and cement stocks.

For the day, the index improved 52.34 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 7,252.97.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.29 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia retreated 1.38 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 0.77 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 0.43 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison spiked 2.56 percent, Indocement dipped 0.27 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.41 percent, Indofood Suskes slid 0.39 percent, United Tractors lost 0.52 percent, Astra International shed 0.46 percent, Energi Mega Persada soared 2.59 percent, Astra Agro Lestari declined 1.40 percent, Aneka Tambang advanced 0.93 percent, Vale Indonesia improved 0.73 percent, Timah gained 0.80 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 2.13 percent and Bank Mandiri, Kalba Farma and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but all ended up firmly in the green by the day's end.

The Dow advanced 201.94 points or 0.54 percent to finish at 37,468.61, while the NASDAQ rallied 200.03 points or 1.35 percent to close at 15,055.65 and the S&P 500 gained 41.73 points or 0.88 percent to end at 4,780.94.

The rebound on Wall Street came despite a continued increase by treasury yields, which moved higher after the Labor Department noted an unexpected weekly decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits.

Tech stocks helped lead the way higher on Wall Street, with shares of Apple (AAPL) jumping 3.3 percent after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

A rally by semiconductor stocks also contributed to the surge by the NASDAQ as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiked by 3.4 percent. Networking, computer hardware and software stocks also showed notable moves to the upside.

Oil prices climbed higher Thursday, lifted by data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, and on higher forecasts for global demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rallied $1.52 at $74.08 a barrel.