Renewed Consolidation Expected For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Wednesday's holiday for Independence Day, the Indonesia stock market had ended the two-day slide in which it had fallen almost 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,130-point plateau although it may head south again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation over the outlook for interest rates and likely selling in the retail sector. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financial shares were offset by weakness from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index added 40.17 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 7,133.45 after trading between 7,080.75 and 7,147.97.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia added 0.38 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia rose 0.29 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.31 percent, Bank Mandiri advanced 0.89 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 0.47 percent, Indocement shed 0.52 percent, Semen Indonesia sank 0.72 percent, Indofood Suskes declined 1.13 percent, United Tractors fell 0.31 percent, Astra International strengthened 1.45 percent, Energi Mega Persada plummeted 2.82 percent, Astra Agro Lestari skidded 1.06 percent, Aneka Tambang tumbled 2.35 percent, Vale Indonesia retreated 1.88 percent, Timah plunged 3.58 percent, Bumi Resources soared 3.05 percent and Bank CIMB Niaga and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday, pared the losses as the day progressed but still ended firmly in the red.

The Dow dropped 171.69 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 33,980.32, while the NASDAQ tumbled 164.43 points or 1.25 percent to close at 12,938.12 and the S&P 500 slumped 31.16 points or 0.72 percent to end at 4,274.04.

The failed recovery attempt came after the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting, which some traders seemed to interpret as pointing to a slowdown in the pace of interest rate hikes. But the Fed minutes reaffirmed the central bank's plans to continue raising interest rates in an effort to return inflation to its 2 percent objective.

Quarterly results from Target (TGT) also weighed on the markets after reporting earnings fell well short of estimates as it cut prices in an effort to reduce excess inventory.

Traders were also reacting to a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales came in flat in July amid pullbacks in gas station and auto sales.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Wednesday, lifted by data showing declines in crude and gasoline inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.58 or 1.8 percent at $88.11 a barrel.