Indonesia Stock Market Due For Support On Friday

The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, stumbling almost 190 points or 2.8 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,875-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests support ahead of key U.S. employment data later in the day. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses across the board, especially among the financial shares, cement companies, telecoms and resource stocks.

For the day, the index plummeted 148.69 points or 2.12 percent to finish at 6,875.54 after trading between 6,830.11 and 7,033.62.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga stumbled 2.32 percent, while Bank Mandiri plummeted 7.69 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.19 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia surrendered 4.67 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.92 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tumbled 4.11 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia declined 2.97 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison weakened 1.79 percent, Indocement shed 0.89 percent, Semen Indonesia dropped 3.82 percent, United Tractors nosedived 2.88 percent, Astra International slumped 4.01 percent, Energi Mega Persada sank 3.43 percent, Astra Agro Lestari fell 1.73 percent, Aneka Tambang lost 3.45 percent, Jasa Marga dipped 0.48 percent, Timah added 0.51 percent, Bumi Resources was down 1.74 percent and Indofood Sukses Makmur and Vale Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher, although the Dow quickly turned lower and spent the rest of the day in the red.

The Dow stumbled 125.65 points or 0.28 percent to finish at 44,747.63, while the NASDAQ advanced 99.66 points or 0.51 percent to close at 19.971.99 and the S&P 500 added 22.09 points or 0.36 percent to end at 6,083.57.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

Traders will be watching the numbers, which could affect the Federal Reserve’s outlook for interest rates.

A day ahead of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week.

Crude oil saw further downside on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his pledge to increase U.S. oil production in an effort to lower prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery slid $0.42 or 0.6 percent to a one-month low of $70.61 a barrel.