Indonesia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Friday

The Indonesia stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 100 points or 1.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,690-point plateau although it may head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on continuing concerns over inflation, recession and interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, cement stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index gained 47.64 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 6,688.63.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia rallied 2.09 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.51 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia improved 0.69 percent, Bank Central Asia increased 0.36 percent, Bank Mandiri added 0.34 percent, Indosat Ooredoo tumbled 1.97 percent, Indocement rose 0.28 percent, Semen Indonesia jumped 1.95 percent, Indofood Suskes strengthened 1.47 percent, United Tractors surged 5.39 percent, Astra International soared 4.72 percent, Energi Mega Persada advanced 0.88 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations gained 0.83 percent, Astra Agro Lestari fell 0.27 percent, Aneka Tambang plunged 4.07 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.00 percent, Timah retreated 1.50 percent and Bumi Resources and Bank Rakyat Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed and flat as the major averages shook off a sharply lower open on Thursday, improving as the day progressed and ending little changed on opposite sides of the line.

The Dow shed 142.62 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 30,630.17, while the NASDAQ rose 3.60 points or 0.03 percent to close at 11,251.19 and the S&P 500 slid 11.40 points or 0.30 percent to end at 3,790.38.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected disappointing earnings news from financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which both missed expectations.

Concerns about inflation and higher interest rates also continued to weigh on the markets after the Labor Department reported that U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in June.

Another report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly inched higher last week.

Crude oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as concerns about the outlook for energy demand resurfaced amid fears of a possible recession due to rising interest rates. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended lower by $0.52 or 0.5 percent at $95.78 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide June figures for imports, exports and trade balance later today. Imports are predicted to jump 20.1 percent on year, down from 30.74 percent in May. Exports are called higher by an annual 30.26 percent, up from 27.0 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $3.52 billion, up from $2.9 billion a month earlier.

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