Indonesia Bourse May Give Up Support At 7,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, slumping almost 85 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,015-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns about the outlook for interest rates following the FOMC's rate decision. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, cement stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index dropped 36.61 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 7,015.69.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia plummeted 6.12 percent, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.44 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.60 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.57 percent, Bank Mandiri tanked 3.12 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 1.07 percent, Indocement dropped 0.98 percent, Semen Indonesia advanced 0.93 percent, Indofood Suskes fell 0.39 percent, United Tractors surrendered 2.38 percent, Astra International tumbled 2.28 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 13.10 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rallied 2.94 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 3.04 percent, Vale Indonesia strengthened 1.53 percent, Timah jumped 2.26 percent, Bumi Resources skidded 1.09 percent and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages hugged the line for most of Wednesday's session but turned sharply lower after the FOMC decision.

The Dow plunged 505.44 points or 1.55 percent to finish at 32,147.76, while the NASDAQ tumbled 366.05 points or 3.36 percent to close at 10,524.80 and the S&P 500 slumped 96.41 points or 2.50 percent to end at 3,759.69.

The late-day volatility came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points in an effort to rein in inflation.

The Fed noted that future rate hikes will "take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments."

But comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell tamped down optimism about the outlook for interest rates: "It is very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hikes. We have a ways to go."

Crude oil prices climbed higher on Wednesday after data showed declines in crude and gasoline stockpiles in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December climbed $1.63 or 1.8 percent at $90.00 a barrel.