Renewed Support Anticipated For Indonesia Shares

(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 picked up more than 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,075-point plateau but it's tipped to open in the green on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were solidly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, resource stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index shed 49.97 points or 0.70 percent to finish at 7,075.34 after trading between 7,045.94 and 7,124.48.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga sank 0.60 percent, while Bank Mandiri retreated 1.29 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.36 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia stumbled 1.90 percent, Bank Central Asia fell 0.29 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slid 0.47 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison tanked 2.07 percent, Indocement skidded 1.06 percent, Semen Indonesia advanced 0.81 percent, Indofood Suskes lost 0.39 percent, United Tractors plunged 4.23 percent, Astra International dropped 0.90 percent, Energi Mega Persada slumped 1.83 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.35 percent, Aneka Tambang tumbled 1.85 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 4.74 percent, Timah declined 1.61 percent and Bumi Resources surrendered 3.37 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages were flat for most of the day but surged in the afternoon following the Federal Reserve's rate decision.

The Dow surged 512.30 points or 1.40 percent to finish at a record 37,090.24, while the NASDAQ rallied 200.57 points or 1.38 percent to end at 14,733.96 and the S&P 500 gained 63.39 points or 1.37 percent to close at 4,707.09.

The surge on Wall Street came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged while also confirming plans to pivot to cutting rates next year.

The accompanying statement said the decision came as economic growth has slowed from its strong pace in the third quarter, while inflation has eased over the past year.

The projections provided by the Fed also suggest the central bank will begin cutting rates next year, with the median forecast indicating rates will be lowered to 4.6 percent by the end of 2024.

Oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed a bigger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.86 or 1.3 percent at $69.47 a barrel.