(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 280 points or 3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,310-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of key U.S. employment data later today. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The JCI finished slightly lower on Thursday following losses from the resource and cement companies, while the financial sector was mixed.
For the day, the index slipped 13.45 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 7,313.31 after trading between 7,283.50 and 7,338.60.
Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga advanced 0.85 percent, while Bank Mandiri tanked 3.53 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia stumbled 2.63 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.49 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia retreated 2.07 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison skidded 1.17 percent, Indocement slumped 1.08 percent, Semen Indonesia tumbled 2.03 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur rose 0.32 percent, Astra International shed 0.48 percent, Energi Mega Persada sank 0.83 percent, Astra Agro Lestari lost 0.80 percent, Aneka Tambang jumped 1.71 percent, Jasa Marga dipped 0.22 percent, Vale Indonesia declined 1.09 percent, Timah plunged 2.97 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Maybank Indonesia and United Tractors were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened flat on Thursday and hugged the line for much of the day before slipping under water heading into the close.
The Dow slumped 248.33 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 44,765.71, while the NASDAQ shed 34.86 points or 0.18 percent to close at 19,700.26 and the S&P 600 fell 11.38 points or 0.19 percent to end at 6,075.11.
Overall trading activity was somewhat subdued as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.
The jobs data could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month.
While traders have recently expressed greater confidence the Fed will lower rates by another 25 basis points at the December meeting, there remains uncertainty about the likelihood of continued rate cuts at future meetings.
Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday, weighed by weak demand from China and rising production in the United States - although the downside was limited by OPEC's decision to delay a production increase. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January fell $0.24 or 0.4 percent at $68.30 a barrel.
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