Indonesia Bourse May Extend Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had risen almost 20 points or 0.3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,120-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, matching the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the financials and telecoms were mitigated by support from the resource companies.

For the day, the index dipped 12.28 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 7,123.61 after trading between 7,108.18 and 7,159.77.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga climbed 1.11 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.37 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia plunged2.29 percent, Bank Central Asia skidded 1.02 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tumbled 2.51 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison tanked 2.10 percent, Indocement sank 0.70 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur retreated 1.20 percent, United Tractors lost 0.67 percent, Astra International dropped 0.98 percent, Energi Mega Persada rallied 0.98 percent, Aneka Tambang shed 0.66 percent, Vale Indonesia skyrocketed 8.39 percent, Timah surged 6.67 percent, Bumi Resources advanced 0.97 percent and Bank Mandiri, Astra Agro Lestari and Semen Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher but faded to finish mixed and barely changed.

The Dow added 31.99 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 38,884.26, while the NASDAQ slipped 16.69 points or 0.10 percent to close at 16,332.56 and the S&P 500 rose 6.96 points or 0.13 percent to end at 5,187.70.

The modest strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

Relatively dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell combined with weaker-than-expected job growth in April have largely eliminated short-lived concerns the Fed might actually consider raising rates.

However, buying interest waned in afternoon trading after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari suggested interest rates may need to remain at current levels for an "extended period."

Oil futures settled slightly lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the outlook for global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.10 at $78.38 a barrel.