Indonesia Stock Market May Crack Resistance At 7,200 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has tracked higher in consecutive trading days, advancing almost 90 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,190-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to higher, with upside limited by concern over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financials, resource stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index gained 31.44 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 7,194.71.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga soared 3.14 percent, while Bank Central Asia collected 0.63 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia eased 0.23 percent, Indosat Ooredoo fell 0.34 percent, Indocement spiked 2.43 percent, Semen Indonesia retreated 1.50 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.56 percent, Astra International climbed 1.08 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 5.93 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.55 percent, Aneka Tambang and Timah both dropped 0.99 percent, Vale Indonesia declined 1.60 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 2.76 percent and Bank Mandiri, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Indofood Suskes and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages shook off early weakness and moved quickly to the upside, although they finished well off of the day's highs.

The Dow added 59.64 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 32,969.23, while the NASDAQ gained 50.23 points or 0.41 percent to end at 12,431.53 and the S&P 500 rose 12.04 points or 0.29 percent to close at 4,140.77.

The early weakness followed comments from Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who reiterated the U.S. central bank's commitment to bringing inflation under control through tighter monetary policy.

Investors also looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week for clues about the bank's outlook for the economy and interest rates.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said that new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods were virtually unchanged in July. Also, the rate of decline for pending home sales slowed from the previous month.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday, supported by data showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week, as well as news that OPEC may cut production to support prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $1.15 or 1.2 percent at $94.89 a barrel.