Indonesia Bourse May Test Support At 7,200 Points

Ahead of the long break for Eid-ul-Fitr, the Indonesia stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 60 points or 0.8 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 7,230-point plateau and it’s likely to open lower on Wednesday as it catches up on missed sentiment.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on bargain hunting and sliding crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index gained 32.15 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 7,228.91 after trading between 7,204.60 and 7,267.11.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia dropped 0.81 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga jumped 2.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 2.38 percent, Bank Central Asia dropped 0.91 percent, Bank Mandiri skyrocketed 8.81 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.41 percent, Indosat tumbled 1.75 percent, Indocement rose 0.48 percent, Semen Indonesia skidded 1.16 percent, Indofood Suskes sank 0.79 percent, United Tractors spiked 4.76 percent, Astra International surged 6.32 percent, Energi Mega Persada accelerated 3.66 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations advanced 0.86 percent, Astra Agro Lestari tanked 2.91 percent, Aneka Tambang strengthened 1.56 percent, Vale Indonesia improved 1.74 percent, Timah lost 0.54 percent and Bumi Resources was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line all day on Tuesday before finally ending with modest gains.

The Dow added 67.29 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 33,128.79, while the NASDAQ rose 27.74 points or 0.22 percent to end at 12,563.76 and the S&P 500 gained 20.10 points or 0.48 percent to close at 4,175.48.

Some encouraging earnings updates and strong economic data aided sentiment ahead of the central bank’s policy announcement later today.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rate by 50 basis points, the sharpest rate hike in about 22 years. The accompanying statement is eyed for clues about how aggressively the central bank plans to tighten monetary policy.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured goods spiked by more than expected in March. Also, the number of job openings in the U.S. rose by 205,000 from a month earlier to a series high of 11.549 million in March.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand. Also, fears of sharp interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June sank $2.76 or 2.6 percent at $102.41 a barrel.