Higher Open Called For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,250-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, supported by bargain hunting and crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were modestly higher and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financials were tempered by weakness from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index advanced 48.79 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 7,247.41 after trading between 7,212.14 and 7,268.13.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri collected 0.37 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia rose 0.36 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia was up 0.43 percent, Bank Central Asia added 0.52 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 0.87 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison sank 0.79 percent, Indocement gained 0.56 percent, Semen Indonesia shed 0.40 percent, Indofood Suskes improved 0.79 percent, United Tractors increased 0.55 percent, Astra International strengthened 1.45 percent, Energi Mega Persada jumped 1.51 percent, Aneka Tambang skidded 1.04 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 4.18 percent, Timah dropped 0.90 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank CIMB Niaga, Astra Agro Lestari and Kalbe Farma were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher but also spent much of the day in the red before a late rally nudged them all back into positive territory.

The Dow climbed 141.24 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 38,521.36, while the NASDAQ rose 11.32 points or 0.07 percent to close at 15,609.00 and the S&P 500 added 11.42 points or 0.23 percent to end at 4,954.23.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as some traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets after recent volatility.

While the major averages climbed well off Monday's early lows, fading optimism the Fed will lower interest rates in March continued to hang over the markets.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said the central bank is unlikely to cut rates in March and the chances of a rate cut next month have fallen to just 19.5 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session after the Energy Information Administration's said oil inventories may drop by 0.8 million barrels per day in the current quarter. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $0.53 or 0.73 percent at $73.31 a barrel.