The Indonesia stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than 30 points or 0.4 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,335-point plateau and it\'s expected to open in the green again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve\'s monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The JCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financials, weakness from the cement companies and a mixed performance from the resource stocks.
For the day, the index gained 34.30 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 7,336.75 after trading between 7,314.18 and 7,361.53.
Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga and Bank Central Asia both rose 0.25 percent, while Bank Mandiri rallied 1.39 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 0.68 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia advanced 0.86 percent, Indocement dropped 0.87 percent, Semen Indonesia dropped 0.88 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur fell 0.39 percent, United Tractors added 0.41 percent, Astra International jumped 1.46 percent, Energi Mega Persada spiked 1.80 percent, Astra Agro Lestari climbed 1.09 percent, Aneka Tambang gathered 0.30 percent, Vale Indonesia sank 0.95 percent, Timah plummeted 7.26 percent and Bumi Resources, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the day and finished in the green.
The Dow jumped 320.33 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 39,110.76, while the NASDAQ rallied 3.34 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,166.79 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 5,178.51.
The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a rebound by Nvidia (NVDA) after the company unveiled its latest line of AI chips; the company has lately been a key driver of market activity.
Traders also continue to look ahead to the Federal Reserve\'s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank\'s accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in February, while building permits also bounced higher.
Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, rising for a second straight day as traders continued to assess the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.75 at $83.47 a barrel.
Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The benchmark lending rate (6.00 percent), lending facility rate (6.75 percent) and deposit facility rate (5.25 percent) all are expected to remain unchanged.