Winning Streak Likely To End For Indonesia Stock Market

The Indonesia stock market has climbed higher in five straight sessions, advancing more than 200 points or 4.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 4,715-point plateau although investors may cash in on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed geopolitical concerns between the United States and China. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares and cement companies.

For the day, the index soared 74.63 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 4,716.19 after trading between 4,638.81 and 4,741.60.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia climbed 1.19 percent, while Bank Mandiri accelerated 4.38 percent, Bank Central Asia soared 6.65 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.83 percent, Indosat tumbled 2.84 percent, Indocement surged 7.49 percent, Semen Indonesia spiked 3.78 percent, Indofood Suskes jumped 1.34 percent, Aneka Tambang advanced 0.96 percent, Vale Indonesia sank 2.75 percent and Perusahaan Gas Negara, Bukit Asam, Timah and Bumi Resources were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened higher on Thursday and stayed that way through much of the session before falling under pressure late and ending in the red.

The Dow shed 147.63 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 25,400.64, while the NASDAQ lost 43.37 points or 0.46 percent to end at 9,368.99 and the S&P 500 fell 6.40 points or 0.21 percent to close at 3,029.73.

The late-day pullback on Wall Street was attributed to President Donald Trump announcing plans to hold a news conference about China later today. China has recently stepped up efforts to curtail Hong Kong's independence, raising concerns that Trump may announce new measures that ramp up recent tensions with China.

The strength seen for much of the day came following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing a continued decrease in first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week.

Crude oil prices moved higher on Thursday, driven by a drop in gasoline inventories in the U.S. amid an increase in demand thanks to reopening of businesses in almost all the states in the country. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended up $0.90 or 2.7 percent at $33.71 a barrel.