Indonesia Bourse: Support Expected At 7,100 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market turned lower again on Wednesday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 110 points or 1.6 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,110-point plateau and it's likely to see little movement on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky, as investors wait to see if there's any slowdown in the Iran/Israel conflict. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index sank 48.06 points or 0.67 percent to finish at 7,107.79 after trading between 7,089.46 and 7,166.67.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga dropped 0.87 percent, while Bank Mandiri shed 0.49 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia slipped 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia retreated 1.38 percent, Bank Central Asia stumbled 1.93 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia lost 0.51 percent, Indocement added 0.44 percent, Semen Indonesia declined 1.37 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur slumped 0.91 percent, United Tractors dipped 0.23 percent, Astra International slid 0.22 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 7.74 percent, Astra Agro Lestari tumbled 1.65 percent, Aneka Tambang rallied 2.31 percent, Vale Indonesia plunged 4.68 percent, Timah contracted 0.86 percent and Bumi Resources and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages spent most of Wednesday's trade in positive territory before turning lower and ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 44.14 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 42,171.66, while the NASDAQ rose 25.18 points or 0.13 percent to close at 19,546.27 and the S&P 500 eased 1.85 points or 0.03 percent to end at 5,980.87.

The lackluster day on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged. Fed officials still seem to expect to two interest rate cuts this year, lowering the rate to a range of 4.0 percent to 3.75 percent by the end of 2025.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. jobless benefits edged modestly lower last week. Also, the Commerce Department saw a steep drop by new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of May.

Crude oil price ticked higher on Wednesday as the Israel-Iran conflict, which began with Israeli airstrikes on June 12, entered the sixth straight day with casualties increasing on both sides. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose by $0.30 to settle at $75.15 per barrel.