Indonesia Stock Market Due For Consolidation

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 180 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,430-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.

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

The JCI finished slightly higher again on Thursday following gains from the cement companies and mixed performances from the financials and resource shares.

For the day, the index rose 12.11 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 7,433.31 after trading between 7,380.65 and 7,454.45.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.50 percent, while Bank Mandiri jumped 1.72 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.20 percent, Bank Central Asia soared 3.25 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia dipped 0.24 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison fell 0.41 percent, Indocement spiked 2.05 percent, Semen Indonesia advanced 0.87 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur accelerated 1.98 percent, United Tractors rallied 2.55 percent, Astra International strengthened 2.43 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 6.73 percent, Astra Agro Lestari improved 0.75 percent, Aneka Tambang climbed 1.54 percent, Vale Indonesia slumped 1.16 percent, Timah plunged 3.01 percent, Bumi Resources advanced 1.15 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened slightly higher on Thursday but quickly headed south and stayed modestly lower for the rest of the day.

The Dow dropped 137.66 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 28,905.66, while the NASDAQ sank 49.24 points or 0.30 percent to close at 16,128.53 and the S&P 500 fell 14.83 points or 0.29 percent to end at 5,150.48.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about the Federal Reserve further postponing its first interest rate cut following the release of hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data for February.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales rebounded in February, although the increase fell short of estimates.

Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, extending gains from the previous day as the International Energy Agency (IEA) upwardly raised its global demand growth forecast. West Texas International Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.54 or 1.9 percent at $81.26 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide February figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are expected to climb 8.30 percent on year after adding 0.36 percent in January. Exports are called lower by an annual 7.00 percent after slipping 8.06 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $2.48 billion, up from $2.01 billion a month earlier.