The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, surging more than 210 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 5,820-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian is murky on reports that supply issues may delay the coronavirus vaccine rollout. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The JCI finished slightly higher on Thursday following gains from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.
For the day, the index rose 8.96 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 5,822.94 after trading between 5,797.01 and 5,853.16.
Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia jumped 1.80 percent, while Bank Mandiri skidded 1.13 percent, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.58 percent, Bank Central Asia rose 0.16 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia gathered 2.33 percent, Indosat sank 1.20 percent, Astra International plunged 1.75 percent, United Tractors gained 0.38 percent, Indocement tumbled 1.69 percent, Semen Indonesia added 0.42 percent, Indofood Suskes retreated 1.40 percent, Aneka Tambang advanced 0.80 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.64 percent, Timah surged 7.93 percent, Bumi Resources skyrocketed 20.34 percent and Astra Agro Lestari and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as stocks opened higher on Thursday but faded as the day progressed to end mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 85.73 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 29,969.52, while the NASDAQ rose 27.82 points or 0.23 percent to end at 12,377.18 and the S&P 500 eased .29 points or 0.06 percent to close at 3,666.72.
The late-day pullback on Wall Street followed reports that said Pfizer (PFE) expects to ship half of the coronavirus vaccines it originally planned for this year because of supply-chain problems.
The strength seen earlier in the day followed a Labor Department report showing a much bigger than expected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.
Traders also kept an eye on Washington as lawmakers resumed negotiations over a new fiscal stimulus bill. Both Democrats and Republicans have offered new stimulus proposals, although it remains to be seen if they will finally reach an agreement after months of stagnation.
Crude oil futures settled higher Thursday after OPEC said it will pare current production cuts of 7.7 million barrels per day to 7.2 million barrels per day beginning in January. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $0.36 or 0.8 percent at $45.64 a barrel.
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