(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, expanding almost 200 points or 2.5 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 8,130-point plateau although it may hand back some of those gains on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the release of U.S. employment data later today. The European and U.S. markets finished mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The JCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the resource , telecom and cement sectors, while the financial shares were mixed.
For the day, the index jumped 99.86 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 8,131.74 after trading between 8,011.13 and 8,140.86.
Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.26 percent, while Bank Mandiri jumped 2.00 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 1.15 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slipped 0.22 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.33 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rose 0.27 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison spiked 4.27 percent, Indocement climbed 1.14 percent, Semen Indonesia surged 8.95 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur improved 1.10 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.76 percent, Astra International vaulted 3.01 percent, Energi Mega Persada tanked 2.59 percent, Astra Agro Lestari expanded 1.68 percent, Vale Indonesia increased 1.20 percent, Timah soared 6.33 percent, Bumi Resources accelerated 3.33 percent and Aneka Tambang was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday, hugged both sides of the line all day and then finished little changed.
The Dow rose 52.27 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 50,188.14, while the NASDAQ slumped 136.20 points or 0.59 percent to end at 23,102.47 and the S&P 500 sank 23.01 points or 0.33 percent to close at 6,941.81.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.
The report, which was delayed due to the brief government shutdown last week, is expected to show employment climbed by 70,000 jobs in January after rising by 50,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 4.4 percent.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing retail sales in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in December. A separate report from the Labor Department showed import prices in the U.S. crept up in line with estimates in December.
Crude oil prices ticked lower on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. jobs data. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $0.12 of 0.19 percent to $64.24 per barrel.
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