Lower Open Expected For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 300 points or 4.9 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 5,880-point plateau and it's likely to see continued selling pressure on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly soft, with selling pressure among the technology stocks likely to tip the markets into the red. The European and U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following heavy losses among the financial shares and resource companies.

For the day, the index crashed 217.45 points or 3.56 percent to finish at 5,883.88 after trading between 5,876.93 and 6,171.38.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga dropped 0.95 percent, while Bank Mandiri tumbled 3.64 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia surrendered 3.61 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia plunged 3.21 percent, Bank Central Asia stumbled 3.27 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia retreated 3.44 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison rose 0.28 percent, Indocement declined 1.91 percent, Semen Indonesia crashed 3.31 percent, United Tractors contracted 2.22 percent, Astra International shed 0.85 percent, Energi Mega Persada cratered 14.81 percent, Astra Agro Lestari lost 0.81 percent, Antam sank 4.18 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 7.46 percent, Timah skidded 3.64 percent, Bumi Resources gave up 12.57 percent and Indofood Sukses Makmur was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but couldn't hold the gains, finally finishing mixed.

The Dow climbed 182.06 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 51,848.90, while the NASDAQ slumped 110.40 points or 0.43 percent to close at 25,476.63 and the S&P 500 slipped 7.24 points or 0.10 percent to end at 7,358.22.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street, and especially the tech-heavy NASDAQ, was the result of renewed selling among semiconductor stocks over artificial intelligence infrastructure concerns.

The early strength came despite some uncertainty surrounding the US-Iran peace deal amid disagreements between the two nations over a few key terms of the pact.

A slide in crude oil prices also spurred the markets higher as West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery tumbled $2.87 or 3.92 percent to $70.34 per barrel as shipping traffic picks up across the Strait of Hormuz.

In economic news, data from the Commerce Department showed sales of new single-family homes in the US tumbled 7.3 percent month-over-month in May to the lowest annualized rate of 580,000, following an upwardly revised 626,000 in April.