Indonesia Stock Market May Spin Its Wheels Again On Friday

The Indonesia stock market gave up less than a single point on Thursday, but that was enough to end the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 150 points or 2.1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,960-point plateau and it could remain stuck in neutral again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, with growth concerns warring with interest rate optimism. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished barely lower on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index eased 0.20 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 6,958.01 after trading between 6,906.59 and 6,964.17.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia improved 0.74 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia lost 0.60 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.28 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison tumbled 1.85 percent, Indocement fell 0.27 percent, Indofood Suskes rose 0.39 percent, United Tractors perked 0.21 percent, Astra International rallied 1.30 percent, Energi Mega Persada dropped 0.91 percent, Aneka Tambang added 0.61 percent, Vale Indonesia surged 3.30 percent, Timah advanced 0.76 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank Mandiri, Bank CIMB Niaga, Astra Agro Lestari, Semen Indonesia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent most of the day in the red before finishing mixed and little changed.

The Dow dipped 45.74 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 34,945.47, while the NASDAQ rose 9.84 points or 0.07 percent to close at 14,113.67 and the S&P 500 perked 5.36 points or 0.12 percent to end at 4,508.24.

A steep drop by shares of Walmart (WMT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) weighed on the Dow, while upticks by the NASDAQ and S&P came as the latest U.S. economic data added to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department released a report showing U.S. import and export prices both fell by more than expected in the month of October, capping off an encouraging week of inflation data.

A separate Labor Department report showing initial jobless claims climbed by much more than expected last week, while the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell more than expected in October.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday on fears of a likely drop in energy demand after soft data from the U.S., Europe and Asia raised worries about an economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December tumbled $3.76 or 4.9 percent at $72.90 a barrel.