Higher Open Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market rebounded on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered almost 110 points or 1.7 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 7,000-point plateau and it's tipped to open higher again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with bargain hunting expected to lift the oversold bourses - particularly among the technology shares. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the cement companies, weakness from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index rose 13.96 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 6,998.27 after trading between 6,920.73 and 7,010.27.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia gained 0.84 percent, while Bank Central Asia collected 0.33 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia fell 0.23 percent, Indosat perked 0.38 percent, Indocement rallied 2.43 percent, Semen Indonesia jumped 2.10 percent, Indofood Suskes accelerated 2.15 percent, United Tractors rose 0.26 percent, Astra International climbed 1.10 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 6.82 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations soared 5,83 percent, Astra Agro Lestari dipped 0.26 percent, Aneka Tambang slumped 2.72 percent, Vale Indonesia tanked 5.19 percent, Timah plunged 6.82 percent, Bumi Resources tumbled 2.99 percent and Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Mandiri and Bank CIMB Niaga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday, swooned midday before accelerating higher into the close.

The Dow jumped 194.23 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 30,677.36, while the NASDAQ spiked 179.11 points or 1.62 percent to end at 11,232.19 and the S&P 500 gained 35.94 points or 0.95 percent to close at 3,795.73.

The markets continued to experience choppy trading as traders weighed going bargain hunting following recent weakness against the possibility of a global recession.

Traders kept an eye on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, with the Fed chief reiterating his commitment to moving quickly to bring inflation back down. But the Fed's plans to aggressively raise interest rates to combat inflation has led to concerns tighter monetary policy will tip the economy into a recession.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower last week.

Oil futures slid on Thursday, losing ground for a second straight session on concerns about outlook for energy demand amid rising possibility of a recession. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.92 or 1.8 percent at $104.27 a barrel.