The Indonesia stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 45 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index ended just above the 4,320-point plateau, and now analysts are predicting continued contraction at the opening of trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with lingering concerns about the looming fiscal cliff overshadowing a batch of largely upbeat economic data. Lawmakers in Washington continue to struggle to reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff - which could overshadow a report showing that U.S. weekly jobless claims pulled back near a four-year low. The European and U.S. markets were down, and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The JCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, plus a mixed performance from the resource plays.
For the day, the index lost 17.34 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 4,320.19 after trading between 4,299.72 and 4,335.92.
Among the actives, Astra Agro Lestari shed 0.52 percent, while Bank Mandiri dropped 1.23 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia plunged 1.77 percent, Bakrieland Development plummeted 1.69 percent, Vale Indonesia lost 3.06 percent, Aneka Tambang added 0.79 percent, Bumi Resources spiked 4.92 percent and Energi Mega Persada surged 7.79 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks fell under pressure on Thursday, with lingering concerns about the looming fiscal cliff overshadowing a batch of largely upbeat economic data. Traders may also have been cashing in following recent gains.
Lawmakers in Washington continue to struggle to reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, once again accused President Barack Obama of failing to provide a serious offer, claiming that the White House is not offering enough in spending cuts.
Boehner has made similar remarks for several days, while Democrats continue to attack the GOP for being unwilling to accept higher tax rates on wealthy Americans.
The worries overshadowed a report from the Labor Department showing that weekly jobless claims pulled back near a four-year low. Jobless claims fell to 343,000 in the week ended December 8, down 29,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 372,000. Economists had expected claims to be unchanged compared to the 370,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Also, the Commerce Department said that retail sales increased 0.3 percent in November following a 0.3 percent decrease in October. Economists had expected an increase of 0.6 percent. Excluding a 4.0 percent drop in sales by gas stations, retail sales rose by 0.8 percent in November compared to a 0.5 percent drop in October.
Traders also continued to digest the Federal Reserve's plan to replace "Operation Twist," which expires at the end of the year, with the purchase of longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $45 billion per month.
The major U.S. averages were down on Thursday as the Dow fell 74.73 points or 0.6 percent to finish at 13,170.72, while the NASDAQ slid 21.65 points or 0.7 percent to close at 2,992.16 and the S&P 500 dropped 9.03 points or 0.6 percent to end at 1,419.45.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.