Higher Open Called For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Thursday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 115 points or 1.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,300-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive as soft U.S. economic data reinforced the case for an interest rate cut in June. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and cement companies, while the resource stocks were soft.

For the day, the index jumped 93.54 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 7,303.28 after trading between 7,298.48 and 7,365.68.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.26 percent, while Bank Mandiri accelerated 2.49 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.35 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia rallied 2.13 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 1.29 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia jumped 2.08 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison spiked 2.04 percent, Indocement surged 4.30 percent, Semen Indonesia skyrocketed 5.69 percent, Indofood Suskes improved 0.79 percent, United Tractors perked 0.22 percent, Astra International retreated 1.44 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 1.92 percent, Aneka Tambang fell 0.32 percent, Vale Indonesia slumped 1.34 percent, Timah declined 1.72 percent and Bumi Resources and Astra Agro Lestari were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday but climbed steadily throughout the day so that they all ended in the green.

The Dow jumped 348.85 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 38,773.12, while the NASDAQ added 47.03 points or 0.30 percent to close at 15,906.17 and the S&P 500 rose 29.11 points or 0.58 percent to end at 5,029.73.

The higher close on Wall Street came after a Commerce Department report showing a much bigger than expected decrease in U.S. retail sales in January led to renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Federal Reserve also released a report showing industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in January.

Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday as the dollar weakened after the weak retail sales data raised hopes of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in June. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March rallied $1.39 or 1.8 percent at $78.03 a barrel.