Indonesia Bourse Due For Support On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, retreating almost 220 points or 3.2 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,525-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky thanks to a less clear outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, telecoms and cement companies, while the resource stocks offered mild support.

For the day, the index tumbled 168.99 points or 2.20 percent to finish at the daily low of 7,527.93 after moving as high as 7,679.24.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga and Bank Negara Indonesia both retreated 1.83 percent, while Bank Mandiri stumbled 1.77 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.14 percent, Bank Central Asia tanked 3.05 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tumbled 2.94 percent, Bank Maybank Indonesia sank 0.86 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison surrendered 3.10 percent, Indocement shed 0.73 percent, Semen Indonesia declined 1.56 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur dropped 1.74 percent, United Tractors lost 1.99 percent, Astra International fell 0.98 percent, Energi Mega Persada rallied 3.81 percent, Astra Agro Lestari weakened 1.49 percent, Aneka Tambang added 0.68 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.24 percent, Timah rose 0.43 percent and Bumi Resources and Jasa Marga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened flat on Monday and hugged the line throughout most of the session before a late rally nudged them into the green at the close.

The Dow added 17.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at a record 42,330.15, while the NASDAQ gained 69.58 points or 0.38 percent to close at 18,189.17 and the S&P 500 rose 24.31 points or 0.42 percent to end at a record 5,762.48.

Stocks initially came under pressure in reaction to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who suggested the central bank will continue to lower interest rates but stressed the downward path for rates is not on a preset course.

Powell's remarks partly offset optimism the Fed will continue to lower interest rates aggressively in the coming months.

The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for November 6-7, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 65.3 percent chance the central bank will lower rates by 25 basis points and a 34.7 percent chance of another 50-basis point rate cut.

Oil futures settled flat on Monday as uncertainty about the outlook for oil demand from China weighed on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November ended down $0.01 at $68.17 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will provide September data for consumer prices later today; in August, overall inflation was down 0.03 percent on month and up 2.12 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 2.02 percent.