Steady Start Eyed For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, stumbling more than 190 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 8,070-point plateau although investors may go bargain hunting on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is tempered by concerns over the growing economic conflict between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are likely to follow that lead.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, telecoms, food companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index plunged 160.68 points or 1.95 percent to finish at 8,066.52 after trading between 7,974.03 and 8,284.91.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga and Aneka Tambang both shed 0.59 percent, while Bank Mandiri tumbled 3.31 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.42 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia surrendered 2.56 percent, Bank Central Asia skidded 1.02 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 3.01 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison cratered 3.57 percent, Indocement dropped 2.06 percent, Semen Indonesia tanked 2.76 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur stumbled 2.08 percent, United Tractors retreated 1.83 percent, Astra International added 0.43 percent, Energi Mega Persada skyrocketed 8.54 percent, Astra Agro Lestari advanced 0.96 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 5.95 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 3.52 percent and Timah was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday but ticked steadily higher before finally finishing mixed.

The Dow climbed 202.88 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 46.270.46, while the NASDAQ slumped 172.91 points or 0.76 percent to close at 22,521.70 and the S&P 500 dipped 10.41 points or 0.16 percent to end at 6,644.31.

The late-day pullback on Wall Street came as a post by President Donald Trump reinforced earlier concerns about trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

Trump accused China of an "economically hostile act" by purposefully not buying U.S. soybeans and threatened to terminate business with China having to do with cooking oil and other elements of trade as retribution.

The selling pressure was partly offset by upbeat earnings news from big-name financial companies, including Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

Crude oil prices pulled back sharply on Tuesday as renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and China have heightened, while forecasts predicting low demand in the months ahead also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.70 or 1.18 percent at $58.79 per barrel.