Indonesia Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last four trading days since the end of the seven-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 400 points or 5 percent. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Jakarta Composite Index sits just above the 8,125-point plateau although it's due for profit taking on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky on rising ambiguity over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following large gains from the resource stocks and mixed performances from the financial shares and cement companies.

For the day, the index climbed 85.16 points or 1.06 percent to finish at the daily high of 8,125.20 after trading as low as 8,039.95.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri dipped 0.23 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.42 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia fell 0.24 percent, Bank Central Asia rallied 1.94 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia shed 0.48 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison added 0.27 percent, Indocement improved 0.72 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur dropped 0.96 percent, United Tractors strengthened 1.68 percent, Astra International surged 3.51 percent, Energi Mega Persada climbed 1.48 percent, Astra Agro Lestari accelerated 2.25 percent, Aneka Tambang spiked 2.51 percent, Vale Indonesia jumped 1.91 percent, Timah soared 3.46 percent, Bumi Resources skyrocketed 15.70 percent and Semen Indonesia and Bank CIMB Niaga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed but trended steadily lower as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow dropped 88.76 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 46,292.78, while the NASDAQ shed 215.50 points or 0.95 percent to end at 22,573.47 and the S&P 500 sank 36.83 points or 0.55 percent to close at 6,656.92.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street may partly have reflected concerns that stocks are overvalued following comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Speaking at an event Rhode Island, Powell described equity prices as "fairly highly valued" following the recent run to record highs.

Powell also addressed the outlook for monetary policy, noting that the Fed is facing a "challenging situation" as near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside.

Crude oil prices moved sharply higher on Tuesday as Iraq's earlier-announced plans to export oil to Turkey from Kurdistan stalled due to payment issues. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.26 or 2.02 percent at $63.54 per barrel.