The win streak has hit four sessions now for the Indonesia stock market, which has gained more than 100 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,470-point plateau, although it may open under pressure on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to concerns over a U.S. government shutdown and a fall in crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The JCI finished modestly higher on Thursday following mixed performances from the financial shares and resource stocks.
For the day, the index collected 28.15 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 6,472.67 after trading between 6,452.05 and 6,483.27. There were 177 gainers and 176 decliners, with 119 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food skyrocketed 24.49 percent, while Bank Pan Indonesia plunged 3.42 percent, Voksel Electric tumbled 2.34 percent, Bank MNC Internasional skidded 1.96 percent, Jasa Marga shed 0.79 percent, XL Axiata lost 0.62 percent, Lotte Chemical fell 0.50 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia jumped 1.42 percent, Bank Mandiri collected 0.31 percent, Bumi Resources added 0.70 percent, Vale Indonesia dipped 0.60 percent and Indofood was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks gave ground on Thursday as the major averages eased from Wednesday's record closing highs.
The Dow shed 97.84 points or 0.37 percent to 26,017.81, while the NASDAQ lost 2.23 points or 0.03 percent to 7,296.05 and the S&P 500 fell 4.53 points or 0.16 percent to 2,798.03.
The weakness on Wall Street was partly attributed to concerns about a potential government shutdown, with a deadline to pass a spending bill looming today.
Profit taking may also have contributed to the pullback by stocks, with some traders cashing on the recent run to record highs.
In economic news, the Commerce Department noted a steep drop in new residential construction in December, while the Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits pulled back to lowest level in nearly 45 years in the week ended January 13th.
Crude oil prices were flat Thursday amid speculation the fossil fuel is overbought near three-year highs. After cold weather interruptions, U.S. crude production rose 258,000 barrels per day to 9.75 million bpd last week. February WTI oil was down 2 cents to $63.95/bbl on Nymex.
by RTT Staff Writer
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