Indonesia Shares May Open Under Water On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in two straight trading days, accelerating more than 220 points or 2.6 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 8,150-point plateau although it's looking at a soft start on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is unclear, with technology stocks likely under pressure while oil, pharmaceutical and housing stocks offering support. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the resource and financial shares were capped by weakness from the food and telecom stocks.

For the day, the index gathered 24.12 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 8,146.72 after trading between 8,050.40 and 8,194.68.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga soared 4.71 percent, while Bank Mandiri spiked 3.52 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia accelerated 4.72 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.87 percent, Bank Central Asia jumped 1.96 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia vaulted 1.84 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison stumbled 2.73 percent, Semen Indonesia rose 0.39 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur tumbled 2.08 percent, United Tractors surged 6.40 percent, Astra International retreated 1.84 percent, Energi Mega Persada tanked 2.55 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.67 percent, Aneka Tambang expanded 1.53 percent, Vale Indonesia rallied 6.45 percent, Timah climbed 2.48 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 6.82 percent and Indocement was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed but quickly diverged, finally finishing the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

The Dow rallied 260.31 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 49,501, while the NASDAQ tumbled 350.61 points or 1.51 percent to end at 22,904.58 and the S&P 500 sank 35.09 points or 0.51 percent to close at 6,882.72.

The advance by the Dow was fueled by stocks like Amgen (AMGN), 3M (MMM) and Nike (NKE), which saw better than expected quarterly results.

Meanwhile, traders continued to rotate out of the tech sector, dragging the NASDAQ lower as semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the downside.

In U.S. economic news, payroll processor ADP said private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in January. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said its reading on U.S. service sector activity came in unchanged last month.

Crude oil prices surged on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said inventories in the U.S. fell far more than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $1.97 or 3.12 percent at $65.18 per barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide Q4 figures for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.68 percent on quarter and 5.01 percent on year. That follows gains of 1.43 percent on quarter and 5.04 percent on year in the three month prior.