Indonesia Bourse May Extend Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,200-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on fading hopes that the FOMC will trim interest rates at next month's meeting. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.

For the day, the index shed 40.17 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 7,198.62 after trading between 7,186.17 and 7,254.09.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 1.43 percent, while Bank Mandiri rallied 2.25 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia sank 0.71 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slid 0.43 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.29 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia weakened 1.28 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison dropped 0.78 percent, Indocement fell 0.28 percent, Semen Indonesia shed 0.79 percent, Indofood Suskes declined 1.56 percent, United Tractors lost 0.77 percent, Astra International tanked 2.82 percent, Energi Mega Persada skidded 1.49 percent, Aneka Tambang plummeted 5.57 percent, Vale Indonesia slumped 1.54 percent, Timah tumbled 1.77 percent and Bumi Resources and Astra Agro Lestari were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 274.30 points or 0.71 percent to finish at 38,380.12, while the NASDAQ shed 31.28 points or 0.20 percent to end at 15,597.68 and the S&P 500 slipped 15.80 points or 0.32 percent to close at 4,942.81.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on last week's rally amid fading optimism about the likelihood the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in March.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank is unlikely to cut interest rates next month during an interview over the weekend. Powell suggested the strength of the U.S. economy even amidst elevated rates will allow the Fed to proceed carefully.

Stocks fell to their lows of the session as the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing U.S. service sector growth accelerated by more than expected in January, further dampening hopes for a rate cut.

Oil futures settled higher on Monday as concerns about trade and supply disruptions outweighed a firm dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March settled lower by $0.50 or 0.7 percent a barrel at $72.78 a barrel.