Indonesia Shares May Sputter On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 125 points or 1.7 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,350-point plateau and it's expected to remain in that range again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with a lack of direction over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The JCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the cement companies and mixed performances from the finance and resource stocks.

For the day, the index dipped 3.58 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 7,349.02.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri jumped 1.40 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.35 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 0.41 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.50 percent, Indocement dipped 0.28 percent, Semen Indonesia sank 0.80 percent, Indofood Suskes improved 0.76 percent, United Tractors added 0.55 percent, Astra International advanced 0.96 percent, Vale Indonesia tumbled 2.12 percent and Bank Rakyat Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and spent the vast majority of the session in the red, with only a late spurt lifting the Dow and S&P barely into the green.

The Dow added 48.44 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 38,612.24, while the NASDAQ lost 49.91 points or 0.32 percent to close at 15,580.87 and the S&P 500 rose 6.29 points or 0.13 percent to end at 4,981.80.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets for much of the session, with the major averages falling to their worst levels after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting revealed most officials remain wary of cutting interest rates "too quickly."

However, the Fed said a couple of participants pointed to downside risks to the economy associated with maintaining an overly restrictive stance for too long. The late-day recovery may have reflected expectations the Fed will still eventually cut interest rates.

Oil prices rebounded from early losses and settled higher on Wednesday as concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East outweighed weak outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $0.87 or 1.1 percent at $77.91 a barrel.

Closer to home, The central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate (6.00 percent), deposit facility rate (5.25 percent) and lending facility rate (6.75 percent) all unchanged.