Steady Start Eyed For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 220 points or 3.2 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 7,560-point plateau and it's expected to find traction on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement as traders keep a watchful eye on the unrest in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were flat with a touch of upside and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the cement and resource companies.

For the day, the index dropped 78.87 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 7,563.26.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri skidded 1.06 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Central Asia both shed 0.47 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia stumbled 2.66 percent, Indocement slid 0.37 percent, Semen Indonesia added 0.52 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur retreated 1.39 percent, United Tractors sank 0.73 percent, Astra International lost 0.48 percent, Jasa Marga slid 0.41 percent, Vale Indonesia jumped 1.90 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests very mild upside as the major averages opened slightly lower on Wednesday, hugged the like throughout the session and finished barely higher.

The Dow added 39.55 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 42,196.52, while the NASDAQ gained 14.76 points or 0.08 percent to close at 17,925.12 and the S&P 500 perked 0.79 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,709.54.

The early weakness on Wall Street partly reflected concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East following Iran's ballistic missile attack against Israel on Tuesday.

While Iran has said it is not interested in a wider war, the attacks have contributed to a surge by the price of crude oil, leading to worries higher energy prices will lead to a spike in inflation.

Waning optimism the Federal Reserve will continue to aggressively lower interest rates also weighed on stocks after payroll processor ADP reported stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of September.

Oil futures settled modestly higher on Wednesday as traders bet on a likely drop in supplies due the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended up $0.27 or 0.39 percent at $70.10 a barrel.