Indonesia Shares: Resistance Expected At 7,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one session after snapping the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 40 points or 0.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,000-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on growth and inflation concerns. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished barely higher on Wednesday following gains from the food stocks, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the resource companies.

For the day, the index gained 4.25 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 6,995.95.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga advanced 0.89 percent, while Bank Mandiri dropped 0.82 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.67 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia was down 0.52 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 0.81 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 0.89 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison lost 0.77 percent, Indocement improved 0.70 percent, Semen Indonesia retreated 1.43 percent, Indofood Suskes rose 0.36 percent, United Tractors gained 0.74 percent, Astra International skidded 1.14 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 3.73 percent, Astra Agro Lestari shed 0.33 percent, Aneka Tambang fell 0.26 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 1.39 percent and Vale Indonesia and Timah were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 198.78 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 34,443.19, while the NASDAQ sank 148.48 points or 1.06 percent to end at 13,872.47 and the S&P 500 lost 31.35 points or 0.70 percent to close at 4,465.48.

The continued weakness on Wall Street reflected ongoing concerns about the outlook for the global economy and inflation concerns.

Stocks saw further downside following a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing an unexpected acceleration in the pace of U.S. service sector growth in August - sending treasury yields higher.

In other U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened in the month of July.

Crude oil prices extended recent gains and moved higher on Wednesday, lifting the futures contract to a fresh nine-month closing high - fueled by the decision by Russia and Saudi Arabia to extend production cuts. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for October ended higher by $0.85 or 1 percent at $87.54 a barrel.