Lower Open Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved higher in seven straight sessions, gathering more than 270 points or 3.9 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,140-point plateau although it's overdue for consolidation on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with weakness expected from the oil, finance and property stocks, while the technology companies may offer support. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were also mostly soft and the Asian market figure to open in the red.

The JCI finished modestly higher again on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the resource companies.

For the day, the index added 43.32 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 7,140.47 after trading between 7,079.03 and 7,161.84.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri rose 0.21 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia collected 0.25 percent, Bank Central Asia and Vale Indonesia both rose 0.29 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia rallied 2.65 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison shed 0.49 percent, Indocement lost 0.45 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.36 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur dipped 0.30 percent, United Tractors perked 0.11 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 3.80 percent, Astra Agro Lestari sank 0.84 percent, Aneka Tambang dropped 0.99 percent, Bumi Resources slumped 1.74 percent and Timah, Bank CIMB Niaga, Bank Danamon Indonesia and Astra International were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and trended generally lower, remaining mixed at the close.

The Dow tumbled 436.36 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 44,023.29, while the NASDAQ gained 37.47 points or 0.18 percent to close at a record 20,677.80 and the S&P 500 sank 24,80 points or 0.40 percent to end at 6,243.76.

The uptick by the NASDAQ came amid strength in the semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index ended the session at its best closing level in a year.

Nvidia (NVDA) helped lead the sector higher, with the AI darling surging by 4.0 percent to a record closing high after indicating it will "soon" resume H20 AI chip sales to China.

On the other hand, housing stocks moved sharply lower on the day, resulting in a 3.3 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index. Oil service stocks also slumped amid a decrease by the price of crude oil, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 3.1 percent.

Crude oil price fell modestly on Tuesday as the previously predicted supply-side pressure from Russia due to President Donald Trump's sanctions waned with his 50-day ultimatum. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.46 at $66.52 per barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The benchmark lending rate (5.50 percent), deposit facility rate (4.75 percent), and lending facility rate (6.25 percent) are all expected to be unchanged.