Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For Indonesia Stock Market

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 gathered more than 35 points or 0.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,900-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly soft ahead of key U.S. employment data later today. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index gained 43.57 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 6,898.08.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri jumped 1.75 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia added 0.67 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia advanced 0.85 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.54 percent, Indocement surged 4.96 percent, Semen Indonesia soared 5.86 percent, United Tractors spiked 1.59 percent, Astra International fell 0.36 percent, Energi Mega Persada accelerated 1.79 percent, Vale Indonesia retreated 1.45 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 2.31 percent and Aneka Tambang, Bank CIMB Niaga, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Astra Agro Lestari, Indofood Suskes, Timah and Bank Rakyat Indonesia all were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages opened lower on Thursday, rallied midday but sank back into the red heading into the close.

The Dow shed 66.63 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 35,215.89, while the NASDAQ dipped 13.73 points or 0.10 percent to close at 13,858.71 and the S&P 500 fell 11.50 points or 0.25 percent to end at 4,501.89.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected continued concerns about U.S. debt after credit rating agency Fitch Ratings unexpectedly downgraded the United States’ credit rating earlier this week.

Selling pressure remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report later today.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department noted a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week. Also, the Institute for Supply Management reported a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in July.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Thursday after Saudi Arabia announced that it would extend its production cut to next month. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September climbed $2.06 or 2.6 percent at $81.66 a barrel.