Soft Start Seen For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 125 points or 1.8 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,035-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat ahead of key U.S. inflation data later today. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets expect to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index slipped 4.99 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 7,036.09 after trading between 7,020.01 and 7,070.19.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga lost 0.59 percent, while Bank Mandiri sank 0.85 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia advanced 0.97 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.28 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia skidded 0.93 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison soared 4.10 percent, Indocement rallied 1.35 percent, Indofood Suskes improved 0.78 percent, United Tractors dipped 0.22 percent, Astra International shed 0.45 percent, Energi Mega Persada dropped 0.87 percent, Astra Agro Lestari slumped 0.69 percent, Aneka Tambang spiked 2.72 percent, Vale Indonesia skyrocketed 7.08 percent, Timah surged 6.50 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 2.70 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia and Semen Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but faded as the day progressed, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow rose 13.44 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 35,430.42, while the NASDAQ slid 23.27 points or 0.16 percent to close at 14,258.49 and the S&P 500 dipped 4.31 points or 0.09 percent to end at 4,550.58.

Stocks saw early strength amid ongoing optimism about the outlook for interest rates, also riding a surge by shares of General Motors (GM) after the auto giant announced a $10 billion stock buyback and increased dividend.

Buying interest waned as the day has progress, however, with traders looking ahead to the release of key inflation readings later today.

Crude oil showed another strong move to the upside on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session ahead of a key OPEC meeting later today. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery jumped $1.45 or 1.9 percent to $77.86 a barrel.