Indonesia Shares May See Profit Taking On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in four straight sessions, advancing more than 170 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,420-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Thursday.

The global forecast is mixed and flat amid a lack of catalysts, with expected weakness from the technology stocks likely offset by gains from the oil companies. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index gained 39.30 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 7,421.21 after trading between 7,392.01 and 7,441.62.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga sank 0.75 percent, while Bank Mandiri rallied 2.11 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia strengthened 1.38 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia accelerated 2.05 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.48 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.79 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison soared 3.21 percent, Indocement tanked 2.29 percent, Semen Indonesia plunged 2.54 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur dropped 0.79 percent, United Tractors surrendered 2.69 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 4.59 percent, Aneka Tambang surged 3.51 percent, Vale Indonesia jumped 7.77 percent, Timah skyrocketed 13.70 percent, Bumi Resources slumped 3.33 percent and Astra International and Astra Agro Lestari were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday and finished the same way, little changed.

The Dow added 37.83 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 39,043.32, while the NASDAQ sank 87.87 points or 0.54 percent to close at 16,177.77 and the S&P 500 fell 9.96 points or 0.19 percent to end at 5.165.31.

The pullback by the Nasdaq partly reflected weakness in the tech sector, with AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) slumping by 1.1 percent.

Overall trading activity remained subdued ahead of several key reports in the coming days, including producer prices, jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales.

Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, while supply disruptions in Russia also contributed to the rise in oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April rose $2.16 or 2.8 percent at $79.72 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release January figures for retail sales later today; in December, sales were up 0.2 percent on year.