Indonesia Inherits Positive Lead For Thursday's Trade

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has jumped higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 225 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,875-point plateau and it may extend its winning streak again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, resource stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index surged 138.65 points or 2.06 percent to finish at 6,874.74 after trading between 6,736.06 and 6,880.76.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia rallied 2.44 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.50 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia skyrocketed 5.14 percent, Bank Central Asia gathered 3.14 percent, Bank Mandiri surged 6.40 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia perked 4.62 percent, Indosat Ooredoo spiked 2.81 percent, Indocement shed 0.53 percent, Semen Indonesia sank 0.76 percent, Indofood Suskes improved 0.70 percent, United Tractors accelerated 3.69 percent, Astra International rose 3.29 percent, Energi Mega Persada gained 2.63 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations increased 2.46 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.53 percent, Aneka Tambang jumped 2.42 percent, Timah strengthened 1.82 percent, Bumi Resources soared 5.06 percent and Vale Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened mixed and remained that way through much of the session before a late rally pushed them all into the green by the close.

The Dow added 47.79 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 31,874.84, while the NASDAQ surged 184.50 points or 1.58 percent to end at 11,897.65 and the S&P 500 rose 23.21 points or 0.59 percent to close at 3,959.90.

The jump by the NASDAQ reflected strength among tech stocks, which came amid a positive reaction to earnings news from Netflix (NFLX). Semiconductor stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiking by 2.5 percent.

On the other hand, gold stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.1 percent. The weakness among gold stocks came as the price of gold for August delivery fell $10.50 to $1,700.20 an ounce.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales tumbled by much more than expected in June.

Crude oil futures settled lower Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for gasoline demand during the summer driving season. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $1.96 or 1.9 percent at $102.26 a barrel on the expiration day.

Closer to home, Indonesia will conclude its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates; the benchmark lending rate (3.5 percent), deposit facility rate (2.75 percent) and lending facility rate (4.25 percent) are all expected to be unchanged.