Indonesia Stock Market May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in five straight sessions, slipping more than 250 points or 3.7 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 6,820-point plateau although it's due for support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on recession concerns and on the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 73.82 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 6,818.75.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia stumbled 2.82 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga dropped 0.85 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia shed 0.52 percent, Bank Central Asia tanked 2.59 percent, Bank Mandiri plunged 4.82 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia was down 2.06 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison sank 0.86 percent, Indocement dipped 0.25 percent, Semen Indonesia retreated 2.44 percent, Indofood Suskes climbed 1.11 percent, United Tractors eased 0.18 percent, Astra International surrendered 2.55 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 6.45 percent, Astra Agro Lestari declined 2.18 percent, Aneka Tambang tumbled 2.29 percent, Vale Indonesia skidded 3.08 percent, Timah slumped 3.29 percent and Bumi Resources was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to lower following a volatile Wednesday that saw the major averages bounce back and forth across the unchanged line before ending on opposite sides.

The Dow rose 1.58 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 33,597.92, while the NASDAQ sank 56.34 points or 0.51 percent to end at 10,958.55 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.34 points or 0.19 percent to close at 3,933.92.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

The Fed still seems poised to slow the pace of interest rate hikes, but recent upbeat economic data has raised concerns about how much further the central bank will raise rates at future meetings.

The recent selling on Wall Street partly reflects worries the Fed will need to push the economy into a prolonged recession in order to bring inflation down close to its 2 percent target.

Crude oil prices fell sharply Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a sharp increase in gasoline inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for January ended lower by $2.24 or 3 percent at $72.01 a barrel, losing for the fourth consecutive session.

Closer to home, Indonesia will see November numbers for its consumer confidence index later this morning; in October, the index score was 120.3.