Indonesia Stock Market Tipped To Head South Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Thursday halted the two-day winning streak in which it had fallen almost 85 points or 1.2 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,030-point plateau although it's likely to open in the red again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financials were offset by weakness from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index gained 18.88 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 7,034.57.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia rallied 2.27 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga dropped 0.87 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia added 0.54 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.57 percent, Bank Mandiri advanced 0.99 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia improved 0.87 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison retreated 1.44 percent, Semen Indonesia skidded 0.93 percent, Indofood Suskes lost 0.78 percent, United Tractors gained 0.98 percent, Astra International sank 0.78 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 3.68 percent, Astra Agro Lestari shed 0.57 percent, Aneka Tambang tumbled 1.88 percent, Timah skidded 1.11 percent, Bumi Resources fell 0.55 percent and Indocement, Jasa Marga and Vale Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 146.51 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 32,001.25, while the NASDAQ tumbled 181.86 points or 1.73 percent to close at 10,342.94 and the S&P 500 lost 39.80 points or 1.06 percent to end at 3,719.89.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest the fourth straight 75-basis point interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, and comments from the central bank Chair Jerome Powell that signaled more interest rate hikes in the coming months.

Investors also digested the latest batch of economic data and looked ahead to the crucial non-farm payroll data, due on Friday.

The Commerce Department said the U.S. trade gap widened to a three-month high in September, while the Labor Department said jobless claims declined last week and the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose more than expected.

Crude oil prices settled sharply lower Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand. The dollar's sharp uptick following hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve also weighed on crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.83 or 2 percent at $88.17 a barrel.