Indonesia Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure

The Indonesia stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, gathering more than 100 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 6,640-point plateau although it’s due for consolidation on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative, with profit taking expected particularly among the oil and technology stocks. The European and U.S. markets finished lower and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the resource stocks and energy producers, while the financials were soft.

For the day, the index improved 40.13 points or 0.61 percent to finish at the daily high of 6,643.93 after moving as low as 6,602.88.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.42 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga lost 0.51 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia fell 0.36 percent, Bank Central Asia sank 1.01 percent, Bank Mandiri rallied 2.80 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia declined 0.48 percent, Indosat plummeted 6.76 percent, Indocement tanked 2.24 percent, Indofood Suskes spiked 2.75 percent, United Tractors eased 0.11 percent, Astra International accelerated 3.45 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 12.15 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rose 0.25 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.27 percent, Timah jumped 1.62 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations plunged 3.54 percent and Bumi Resources, Semen Indonesia and Aneka Tambang were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday. The Dow moved into the green for a time before ending flat, while the NASDAQ and S&P 500 finished solidly in the red.

The Dow eased 0.06 points to finish at 25,754.69, while the NASDAQ tumbled 269.62 points or 1.71 percent to close at 15,517.37 and the S&P 500 dropped 33.76 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,667.45.

The pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets, which saw stocks recover strongly from the post-Thanksgiving sell-off triggered by the detection of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

With concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant easing, traders are now looking ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. Reports suggest the Fed could decide to double the pace of tapering its asset purchase program to $30 billion per month.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time jobless claims pulled back by much more than expected last week.

Crude oil settled lower Thursday amid concerns about the outlook for energy demand following several countries imposing fresh restrictions on movements to curb the spread of Omicron. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January sank $1.42 or 2 percent at $70.94 a barrel.

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