Indonesia Shares May Remain Stuck In Neutral On Friday

The Indonesia stock market moved higher again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 110 points or 1.3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 8,640-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amidst a lack of catalysts, although oil and technology stocks may provide support. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourse were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index added 28.41 points or 0.33 percent to finish at 8,640.20 after trading between 8,606.90 and 8,650.30.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.28 percent, while Bank Mandiri and Bank Rakyat Indonesia both collected 0.82 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia added 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia climbed 1.17 percent, Bank Central Asia dropped 0.90 percent, Indocement rallied 1.51 percent, Semen Indonesia stumbled 2.10 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur fell 0.35 percent, United Tractors surged 6.88 percent, Astra International jumped 1.89 percent, Energi Mega Persada spiked 2.15 percent, Astra Agro Lestari strengthened 1.61 percent, Aneka Tambang sank 0.68 percent, Vale Indonesia slumped 1.02 percent, Timah soared 4.09 percent, Bumi Resources gained 0.83 percent and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but spent the day bouncing back and forth across the changed line, finally ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 31.96 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 47,850.94, while the NASDAQ added 51.04 points or 0.22 percent to close at 23,505.14 and the S&P 500 rose 7.40 points or 0.11 percent to end at 6,857.12.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess the near-term outlook for the markets following the volatility earlier in the week.

Traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a three-year low last week.

While the data partly offset recent optimism about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates next week, the central bank is still widely expected to lower rates by another quarter point.

Crude oil prices advanced on Thursday as expectations of an end to the Russia-Ukraine war dimmed. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.70 or 1.19 percent at $59.65 per barrel.