Indonesia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Thursday

The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 90 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 6,160-point plateau although it’s looking at a soft start on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on economic growth concerns, coronavirus woes and tumbling oil prices. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the cement stocks and mixed performances from the financials and resource companies.

For the day, the index gained 28.46 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 6,159.04 after trading between 6,112.72 and 6,163.81.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia rallied 2.27 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia collected 2.02 percent, Bank Central Asia lost 0.41 percent, Bank Mandiri advanced 0.87 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia spiked 2.67 percent, Indosat added 0.42 percent, Indocement climbed 1.52 percent, Semen Indonesia accelerated 1.81 percent, Indofood Suskes gained 0.82 percent, United Tractors skidded 1.17 percent, Astra International sank 0.81 percent, Astra Agro Lestari jumped 1.55 percent, Aneka Tambang tanked 2.02 percent, Vale Indonesia retreated 1.44 percent, Timah plunged 4.23 percent and Bumi Resources and Bank CIMB Niaga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains inconsistent as the Dow and S&P opened firmly lower on Wednesday and stayed that way – but the NASDAQ hugged the unchanged line and finished slightly higher.

The Dow tumbled 323.73 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 34,792, while the NASDAQ rose 19.24 points or 0.13 percent to close at 14,780.53 and the S&P 500 sank 20.49 points or 0.46 percent to end at 4,402.66.

The weakness on Wall Street reflected renewed concerns about the pace of U.S. economic growth after payroll processor ADP said private sector employment increased less than expected in July.

On Friday, the Labor Department will release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.

A steep drop by shares of General Motors (GM) also weighed on Wall Street, with the auto giant plunging by 8.9 percent to a five-month closing low after the company reported second quarter earnings that missed estimates.

Crude oil prices plummeted again on Wednesday, extending the sharp pullback seen over the two previous sessions following an unexpected increase in crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude sank $2.41 or 3.4 percent to $68.15 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release Q2 numbers for gross domestic product later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 2.94 percent on quarter and 6.57 percent on year. That follows the 0.96 quarterly decline and the 0.74 percent yearly contraction in the three months prior.