Indonesia Shares May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking almost 85 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,550-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets remains negative on concerns over tariff and on the health of the world's economy. The European and U.S. markets were down again and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the resource, telecom and cement sectors were mitigated by support from the financial shares.

For the day, the index sank 52.36 points or 0.79 percent to finish at 6,545.85 after trading between 6,499.04 and 6,567.51.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga added 0.30 percent, while Bank Mandiri gained 0.64 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia rallied 2.06 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia improved 0.80 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia collected 0.51 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison retreated 1.62 percent, Indocement tanked 2.54 percent, Semen Indonesia plunged 4.51 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur stumbled 3.64 percent, United Tractors rose 0.21 percent, Astra International increased 0.63 percent, Energi Mega Persada gathered 0.57 percent, Astra Agro Lestari strengthened 1.30 percent, Aneka Tambang accelerated 2.01 percent, Jasa Marga tumbled 2.34 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 7.14 percent, Timah sank 0.51 percent, Bumi Resources surrendered 2.94 percent and Bank Central Asia and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains soft as the major averages opened mixed but trended generally lower throughout the day before ending in the red.

The Dow tumbled 478.23 points or 1.14 percent to finish at 41,433.48, while the NASDAQ shed 32.23 points or 0.18 percent to close at 17,436.10 and the S&P 500 sank 42.49 points or 0.76 percent to end at 5,572.07.

Stocks tumbled as trade war concerns have escalated with the U.S. and Canada slapping tariffs on each other's goods.

Markets now await U.S. reports on consumer and producer price inflation, as well as readings on consumer sentiment and inflation expectations this week for further direction.

Oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday, bouncing back fairly well on a weaker dollar after dropping to six-month lows in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April added $0.22 or 0.3 percent at $66.25 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will see January numbers for retail sales later today; in December, sales were up 1.8 percent on year.