Indonesia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, adding more than 100 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just shy of the 5,750-point plateau, although it may run out of steam on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with weakness from the technology shares likely to cap any upside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, telecoms and resource companies.

For the day, the index gained 49.44 points or 0.87 percent to finish at 5,744.56 after trading between 5,704.50 and 5,806.71.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.66 percent, while Bank Mandiri rallied 2.36 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.80 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia spiked 2.26 percent, Bank Central Asia accelerated 3.57 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia added 0.75 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison strengthened 1.67 percent, Indocement expanded 1.44 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.36 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur vaulted 2.65 percent, United Tractors soared 3.52 percent, Astra International shed 0.43 percent, Energi Mega Persada advanced 0.96 percent, Antam surged 5.75 percent, Vale Indonesia perked 0.23 percent, Timah gained 0.90 percent and Bumi Resources and Astra Agro Lestari were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but slumped after the release of U.S. jobless data; the markers eventually recovered to finish mixed.

The Dow jumped 594.83 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 52,900.07, while the NASDAQ tumbled 207.36 points or 0.80 percent to end at 25,832.67 and the S&P 500 perked 0.01 point or 0.00 percent to close at 7,483.24.

The markets opened slightly higher on Thursday but were clearly waiting on the jobs data. Stocks sank after the Labor Department said employment in the U.S. increased much less than expected in June.

Sentiment eventually turned higher again as the lower-than-expected payrolls data caused markets to tone down fears of an immediate rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

In other U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department reported a steep drop in new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in May, thanks to a sharp pullback in new orders for durable goods. Also, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower last week.

Crude oil prices inched higher on Thursday after the U.S. and Iran expressed contradictory remarks over the management of the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $0.05 or 0.07 percent at $68.63 per barrel.