The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday halted the seven-day winning streak in which it had soared more than 260 points or 4.4 percent to a record closing high. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,615-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with support offered by solid earnings news and a surge in crude oil prices. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday as losses from the cement and food sectors were offset by support from the financials and resource stocks.
For the day, the index shed 19.84 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 6,615.49 after trading between 6,588.62 and 6,641.17. There were 183 gainers and 168 decliners, with 125 stocks finishing unchanged.
Among the actives, Bank Pan Indonesia spiked 3.14 percent, while Jasa Marga tumbled 2.06 percent, Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food skidded 1.69 percent, Lotte Chemical dropped 0.98 percent, XL Axiata shed 0.64 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia jumped 1.08 percent, Bank Mandiri collected 0.92 percent, Bumi Resources surged 8.05 percent, Vale Indonesia soared 2.08 percent, Indocement retreated 1.50 percent and Indofood, Bank MNC Internasional and Voksel Electric were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street suggests mild consolidation as stocks failed to sustain an early upward move Wednesday before finishing mixed - although the Dow hit a new record closing high.
The Dow rose 41.31 points or 0.16 percent to 26,252.12, while the NASDAQ slid 45.23 points or 0.61 percent to 7,415.06 and the S&P 500 eased 1.59 points or 0.06 percent to 2,837.54.
The early strength reflected a positive reaction to the latest batch of quarterly earnings news from Abbott Laboratories (ABT), United Technologies (UTX), and Comcast (CMCSA).
In economic news, the National Association of Realtors noted a bigger than expected pullback in existing home sales in December - which came sales jumped to highest rate in nearly eleven years in November.
Crude oil futures extended three-year highs Wednesday, fueled by a weak U.S. dollar and another decline in U.S. oil inventories. March WTI oil climbed $1.14 or 1.8 percent to $65.61/bbl, the highest since December 2014.
by RTT Staff Writer
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