Renewed Support Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost 50 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 5,075-point plateau although it figures to rebound on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism for a coronavirus treatment. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow that lead.

The JCI finished slightly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index fell 3.32 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 5,075.80 after trading between 5,069.38 and 5,116.46.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri shed 0.47 percent, while Bank Central Asia dropped 0.81 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia fell 0.21 percent, Indocement added 0.21 percent, Semen Indonesia tumbled 2.07 percent, Indofood Suskes skidded 1.14 percent, Aneka Tambang sank 0.76 percent, Vale Indonesia retreated 0.92 percent and Timah, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Indosat and Bumi Resources were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as stocks fluctuated on Wednesday maintained a positive bias before ending mostly higher.

The Dow jumped 227.51 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 26,870.10, while the NASDAQ gained 61.92 points or 0.59 percent to end at 10,550.49 and the S&P 500 rose 29.04 points or 0.91 percent to close at 3,226.56.

The continued strength on Wall Street came as upbeat news on the coronavirus vaccine front helped traders shrug off a record single-day spike in new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. Biotech firm Moderna (MRNA) said its experimental vaccine was safe and produced strong immune responses in all 45 patients in an early-stage human trial.

Upbeat earnings news from Goldman Sachs (GS) added to the positive sentiment, with the financial giant reporting much stronger than expected second quarter results.

Crude oil futures ended firmly higher Wednesday after data showed a marked decline in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended up $0.91 or 2.3 percent at $41.20 a barrel, the highest settlement since March 6.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will conclude its monetary policy meeting today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is expected to trim 25 basis points, lowering the rate from 4.25 percent to 4.00 percent.