Indonesia Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Water

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, falling almost 70 points or 0.9 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,860-point plateau and it's likely to remain stuck in neutral again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak, with oil and technology stocks likely to weigh on the markets. The European markets were up and the Asian bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the food, finance, cement and resource sectors.

For the day, the index shed 35.43 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 7,862.95 after trading between 7,854.10 and 7,931.76.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.29 percent, while Bank Mandiri skidded 1.03 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.40 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dropped 0.92 percent, Bank Central Asia tanked 2.30 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tumbled 1.94 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison strengthened 1.38 percent, Indocement surrendered 1.93 percent, Semen Indonesia soared 3.85 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur retreated 1.55 percent, United Tractors declined 1.35 percent, Astra International skyrocketed 9.95 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 4.31 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rallied 5.71 percent, Aneka Tambang stumbled 3.10 percent, Vale Indonesia improved 0.81 percent, Timah added 0.50 percent and Bumi Resources accelerated 3.70 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and spent most of the day in the red, although the Dow peeked up above the line at the end.

The Dow rose 10.45 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 44,922.27, while the NASDAQ tumbled 314.82 points or 1.46 percent to end at 21,314.95 and the S&P 500 sank 37.78 points or 0.59 percent to close at 6,411.37.

The slump by the NASDAQ came amid weakness in the tech sector, with shares of Nvidia (NVDA) plunging by 3.5 percent following reports that the company is developing a new AI chip for China.

On the other hand, the Dow benefitted from a surge by shares of Home Depot (HD), as the home improvement retailer shot up 3.2 percent after the company maintained its full-year guidance despite missing on Q2 results.

Traders were also looking ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting later today and the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium that gets underway on Thursday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium on Friday, with remarks potentially impacting the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil declined on Tuesday amid supply side concerns as OPEC continues to unwind 2.2 million barrels per day in voluntary cuts by its member nations. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $1.07 or 1.69 percent at $62.35 per barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will conclude its monetary policy meeting later today and announce its decision on interest rates. Its benchmark lending rate (5.25 percent), deposit facility rate (4.50 percent) and lending facility rate (6.00 percent) are all expected to remain unchanged.