Indonesia Shares May Take Further Damage On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had gained almost 50 points or 0.7 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,240-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with heavy damage expected among the technology shares. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are expected to open under pressure.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks.

For the day, the index shed 47.03 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 7,241.86 after trading between 7,226.78 and 7,292.56.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga surged 3.64 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia lost 1.49 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.73 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia dropped 2.30 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison plunged 2.56 percent, Indocement rose 0.35 percent, Semen Indonesia stumbled 2.26 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur fell 0.41 percent, United Tractors rallied 1.32 percent, Astra International retreated 1.52 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 1.83 percent, Astra Agro Lestari declined 1.24 percent, Aneka Tambang sank 0.76 percent, Jasa Marga slumped 1.39 percent, Vale Indonesia surrendered 2.13 percent, Bumi Resources skidded 1.30 percent and Bank Mandiri, Bank Danamon Indonesia, Bank Maybank Indonesia, Timah and Perusahaan Gas Negara were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly negative as the major averages opened slightly higher but quickly faded and finally finished mixed.

The Dow jumped 203.40 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 40,743.33, while the NASDAQ plummeted 222.79 points or 1.28 percent to close at 17,147.42 and the S&P 500 sank 27.10 points or 0.50 percent to end at 5,436.44.

The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for the central bank's next decision in September.

The steep drop by the NASDAQ came as tech stocks came under pressure as the day progressed, weighed by the likes of Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Among tech stocks, semiconductor stocks saw some of the worst performances, resulting in a 3.9 percent nosedive by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index slumped to its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Oil prices fell Tuesday amid continued concerns about the outlook for demand, and ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement and weekly inventory data later today. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for September ended down $1.08 or 1.42 percent at $74.73 a barrel.