Indonesia Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in four straight sessions, retreating more than 240 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,050-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, gains from the telecoms and mixed performances from the cement and resource companies.

For the day, the index shed 43.45 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 7,048.22 after trading between 7,031.10 and 7,155.55.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri collected 0.43 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia added 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia tumbled 2.34 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia dropped 0.89 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison gained 0.48 percent, Indocement surrendered 2.42 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur surged 6.72 percent, United Tractors fell 0.24 percent, Astra International retreated 1.57 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 6.44 percent, Vale Indonesia rallied 4.90 percent, Timah soared 7.05 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 4.42 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga, Bank Central Asia, Semen Indonesia, Astra Agro Lestari and Aneka Tambang were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 1,125.37 points or 2.49 percent to finish at 46,341.51, while the NASDAQ rallied 795.99 points or 3.83 percent to end at 21,590.63 and the S&P 500 jumped 184.80 points or 2.91 percent to close at 6,528.52.

Despite the rally on the day, the major averages all posted steep losses for the month of March. The Dow plummeted 5.4 percent, the S&P 500 plunged 5.1 percent and the NASDAQ tumbled 4.8 percent.

The rally on Wall Street followed reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is looking to end the war in the Middle East even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

Bargain hunting also contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 bouncing off their lowest closing levels in almost eight months.

Crude oil plummeted Tuesday on reports that Trump was willing to push Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic efforts. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $1.28 or 1.24 percent at $101.60 per barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release February figures for imports, exports and trade balance and March data for inflation later today. In January, imports were up 18.21 percent on year and exports rose an annual 3.39 percent for a trade surplus of $0.96 billion. In February, overall inflation was up 0.68 percent on month and 4.76 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 2.63 percent.