The Dow Jones led the US stock market gains by edging up 0.2% on the back of healthcare stocks, while the S&P500 and Nasdaq had to lag in negative territory triggered by economic data releases that implied an economic slowdown; as Federal Reserve officials reiterated that the pace of US interest rate hikes will continue. The private sector employment growth figure or ADP Nonfarm Employment Change fell sharply to 145k for March, lower than the forecast of 200k and the previous month’s 261k. Meanwhile, the Trade Balance (Feb.) deficit widened to USD 70.5 billion, from Jan. at USD 68.7 billion. The S&P Global Composite PMI (Mar.) recorded that US businesses had to settle for 52.3, failing to meet expectations of 53.3, although it did look more expansionary than the previous month at 50.1. Inflationary pressures are often rooted in wage labor in the service sector, this is reflected in the ISM NonManufacturing PMI (Mar.) report which recorded growth clearly more contraction than before at 51.2, lower than forecast and previous period. Considering this, the Fed is still likely to raise interest rates at the upcoming FOMC Meeting in May. Meanwhile, energy stocks rose as oil prices struggled for direction following the latest data on US weekly oil inventories which dropped more than expected, adding to supply-demand concerns, especially ahead of the new OPEC+ production cuts announced earlier this week. Today will be monitored important data from the Asian continent, namely the Caixin Manufacturing PMI (Mar.) from China, as well as a series of reports from the western world: Halifax House Price Index (Mar.) & Construction PMI (Mar.) from the UK, German Industrial Production (Feb.), and the highlight of the day is the US Initial Jobless Claims figure later tonight (Western Indonesia Time), which is predicted to grow to 200k from the previous reading of 198k.
JCI also seemed to be lackluster on Wednesday trading (06/04/23) by recording a decline of 13.5points/-0.2% to 6819.68; slightly below MA50 Support. The attempt to break the upper channel (medium-term downtrend) for the last 5 days seems to be stagnant and yesterday’s candle that was similar to the Shooting Star naturally raises concerns that the market consolidation will turn into a downtrend, especially if the MA10 / 6785 Support must also be broken. However, what arouses optimism is that it turns out that yesterday is foreign posted a significant net purchase value at IDR 1.65 trillion (all markets), thickening their Indonesian stock coffers by IDR 3.19 trillion for this week. Considering this Thursday is the last day of trading for this week, NHKSI RESEARCH suggests not to be too aggressive in adding to portfolio positions and to choose stockpicks wisely where positive sentiment still prevails.
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