The Indonesian stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day losing streak in which it had given away more than 60 points or 2 percent. Coming down from a record closing high, the Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 3,120-point plateau - although investors are anticipating a modest rebound when the market kicks off trade on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, although the upside is likely limited by caution ahead of U.S. employment data later in the day. Technology and housing stocks are expected to provide support. The European markets were mixed but little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly higher - and the Asian markets are also expected to track higher.
The JCI finished modestly lower on Thursday, bucking the regional trend of growth as mining stocks and plantations led the market lower.
For the day, the index declined 13.17 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 3,122.15 after trading between 3,105.81 and 3,159.72. Volume was 6.99 billion shares worth 9.17 trillion rupiah. There were 139 decliners and 59 gainers.
Among the decliners, Tunas Baru Lampung shed 1.4 percent, while Sampoerna Agro eased 0.9 percent and Indo Tambangraya Megah plunged 5.6 percent.
Wall Street offers a positive lead as stocks ended notably higher on Thursday ahead of the landmark jobs report following the release of upbeat data on pending home sales and weekly jobless claims.
Boosting sentiment was data from the National Association of Realtors showing a 5.2 percent increase in its pending home sales index in July. Economists had been expecting the index to come in unchanged.
The mood on Wall Street was also helped by a report from the Labor Department showing that initial jobless claims edged down to 472,000 in the week ended August 28, below the 475,000 estimated by economists.
Continued growth in August retail sales also helped to elevate risk appetite, with Target (TGT) reporting a 1.8 percent increase same-store sales, Saks' (SKS) sales rising by 1 percent, Kohl's (KSS) seeing 4.5 percent growth and sales by wholesaler Costco (COST) jumping by 7 percent.
In other corporate news, Hewlett Packard (HPQ) beat out rival Dell Inc. (DELL) in a bidding war for electronic storage firm 3Par (PAR), offering a winning bid of $33 per share, or a total of approximately $2 billion.
Additionally, fast food giant Burger King (BKC) closed markedly higher after the firm entered an agreement to be purchased by private capital firm 3G for $24 per share or nearly $4 billion, including debt.
The major averages all saw steady upside in the second half of the day, eventually ending near their best levels of the session. The Dow gained 50.63 points or 0.5 percent to end at 10,320.10, the NASDAQ advanced by 23.17 points or 1.1 percent to 2,200.01 and the S&P 500 rose by 9.81 points or 0.9 percent to 1,090.10.
In economic news, the Indonesian central bank will on Friday hold its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is widely tipped to keep rates on hold at 6.5 percent.
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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.