Indonesia Bourse May Test Support At 7,200 Points

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for regional elections, the Indonesia stock market had ended the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied almost 175 points or 2.5 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 7,250-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation on renewed concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly soft and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials and telecoms, while the cement and resource stocks were mixed.

For the day, the index dropped 68.22 points or 0.93 percent to finish at the daily low of 7,245.89 after peaking at 7,341.60.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga skidded 1.12 percent, while Bank Mandiri tanked 2.66 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia sank 0.78 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 0.80 percent, Bank Central Asia tumbled 1.72 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia retreated 1.57 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia dropped 0.90 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison surrendered 2.40 percent, Indocement improved 0.73 percent, Semen Indonesia declined 1.37 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur added 0.66 percent, United Tractors fell 0.36 percent, Astra International lost 0.48 percent, Energi Mega Persada stumbled 1.53 percent, Astra Agro Lestari climbed 1.21 percent, Aneka Tambang plunged 2.36 percent, Jasa Marga rallied 2.17 percent, Vale Indonesia slid 0.54 percent, Timah plummeted 4.12 percent and Bumi Resources was down 3.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but all trended lower as the day progressed and ended in the red.

The Dow dropped 138.25 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 44,722.06, while the NASDAQ slumped 115.10 points or 0.60 percent to close at 19,060.48 and the S&P 500 sank 22.89 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,998.74.

The pullback by the NASDAQ was fueled by substantial weakness among computer hardware stocks, led lower by PC makers Dell Technologies (DELL) and HP Inc. (HPQ) after providing disappointing earnings guidance.

Weakness among semiconductor and networking stocks also weighed on the NASDAQ, while biotechnology stocks showed a strong move to the upside.

The weakness in the broader markets came after the Commerce Department released closely watched inflation data that matched expectations. While the faster annual price growth was in line with estimates, the acceleration raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil moved slightly lower on Wednesday as traders weighed news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah against data showing a bigger than expected drop by U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate for January delivery eased $0.05 or 0.1 percent to $68.72 a barrel.