Indonesia Stock Market Overdue For Support On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in six straight sessions, slipping more than 265 points or 4 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,800-point plateau although it's expected to finally move higher on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after days of selling as recession fears may already be priced in. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower again on Thursday following losses from the cement companies, gains from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index fell 14.52 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 6,804.23.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia rallied 2.90 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga strengthened 1.29 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.59 percent, Bank Mandiri tanked 3.13 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rallied 1.68 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison added 0.43 percent, Indocement shed 0.50 percent, Semen Indonesia dropped 0.71 percent, Indofood Suskes gained 0.73 percent, United Tractors plunged 2.67 percent, Astra International sank 0.87 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 4.14 percent, Astra Agro Lestari spiked 3.50 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 3.65 percent, Vale Indonesia skyrocketed 4.24 percent, Timah jumped 1.70 percent, Bumi Resources climbed 1.17 percent and Jasa Marga and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the session.

The Dow jumped 183.56 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 33,781.48, while the NASDAQ rallied 123.45 points or 1.13 percent to end at 11,082.00 and the S&P 500 added 29.59 points or 0.75 percent to close at 3,963.51.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at somewhat reduced levels following the sell-off seen to start the week, which reflected concerns about the outlook for interest rates and the economy.

Traders will be looking for signs of a slowdown in producer price inflation later today, as well as a reduction in inflation expectations amid concerns the Federal Reserve will need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.

The Labor Department reported that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly higher last week.

Crude oil showed a notable downturn over the course of the trading day on Thursday as traders remain concerned about the outlook for energy demand amid the possibility of a global recession. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery slid $0.55 or 0.8 percent to $71.46 a barrel.