Indonesia Shares May See Renewed Support

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had added more than 45 points or 0.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,315-point plateau although it's expected to bounce higher again on Friday.

The global forecast is upbeat on encouraging inflation data from the United States. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index slipped 12.53 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 7,316.11 after trading between 7,289.34 and 7,337.92.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga plunged 4.09 percent, while Bank Mandiri tumbled 1.75 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.42 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.25 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia declined 1.61 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison rallied 2.24 percent, Indocement dipped 0.27 percent, Semen Indonesia climbed 1.24 percent, United Tractors weakened 1.36 percent, Astra Agro Lestari jumped 1.51 percent, Aneka Tambang surrendered 2.01 percent, Vale Indonesia eased 0.25 percent, Timah dropped 0.87 percent, Bumi Resources skidded 1.14 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia, Indofood Sukses and Astra International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher but quickly faded before later accelerating into the green to end near session highs.

The Dow added 47.37 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 38,996.39, while the NASDAQ jumped 144.18 points or 0.90 percent to end at 16,091.92 and the S&P 500 gained 26.51 points or 0.52 percent to close at 5,096.27.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Commerce Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with estimates in January.

The inflation readings are said to be favored by the Federal Reserve, and the data generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

In other U.S. economic news, the Labor Department noted a bigger than expected increase in weekly jobless claims, while the National Association of Realtors unexpectedly saw a sharp pullback by pending home sales in January.

Oil futures settled lower on Thursday as concerns about reduced fuel demand outweighing hopes for the likely extension of production cuts by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April fell $0.28 or 0.4 percent at $78.26 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide February figures for consumer prices later today, with overall inflation expected to add 0.2 percent on month and 2.58 percent on year after rising 0.04 percent on month and 2.57 percent on year in January. Core CPI is seen higher by an annual 1.73 percent, up from 1.68 percent a month earlier.