Higher Open Expected For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has tracked higher in three straight sessions, gathering more than 70 points or 1.0 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,900-point plateau and it's expected to open in the green again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic ahead of Wednesday's FOMC interest rate decision. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the resource stocks.

For the day, the index added 18.59 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 6,899.40.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.31 percent, while Bank Mandiri dropped 0.90 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia surged 5.13 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dipped 0.28 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.55 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 0.44 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison lost 0.56 percent, Indofood Suskes sank 0.68 percent, United Tractors soared 3.67 percent, Astra International jumped 1.55 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 3.36 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rallied 1.56 percent, Vale Indonesia fell 0.38 percent, Timah plunged 3.08 percent and Bumi Resources, Aneka Tambang, Indocement and Semen Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher, faded as the day progressed but still finished with modest gains.

The Dow jumped 183.55 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 35,411.24, while the NASDAQ rose 26.06 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,058.87 and the S&P 500 added18.30 points or 0.40 percent to end at 4,554.64.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has contributed to an 11-day winning streak for the Dow, the longest since February 2017. The recent strength lifted all three major averages to their best levels in over a year last week.

Overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday, buoyed by increased demand for gasoline and export cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.67 or 2.2 percent at $78.74 a barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate (5.75 percent), deposit facility rate (5.00 percent) and lending facility rate (6.50 percent) all unchanged.