Soft Start Anticipated For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the break for the Lunar New Year, the Indonesia stock market had tracked lower in two straight sessions, dropping more than 90 points or 1.3 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,160-point plateau and it may open to the downside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index slumped 66.59 points or 0.92 percent to finish at the daily low of 7,166.06 after peaking at 7,261.45.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.57 percent, while Bank Mandiri dropped 0.81 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.39 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 0.86 percent, Bank Central Asia tanked 2.60 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia surrendered 2.56 percent, Indocement retreated 1.22 percent, Semen Indonesia stumbled 1.67 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur added 0.67 percent, United Tractors declined 1.38 percent, Astra International lost 0.61 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 1.80 percent, Astra Agro Lestari weakened 1.25 percent, Jasa Marga plunged 2.26 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 6.14 percent, Timah gained 0.48 percent, Bumi Resources skidded 4.00 percent and Bank Maybank Indonesia, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Aneka Tambang were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but they all trended lower throughout the day and finished under water.

The Dow dropped 136.83 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 44,713.52, while the NASDAQ slumped 101.26 points or 0.51 percent to close at 19,632.32 and the S&P 500 sank 28.39 points or 0.47 percent to end at 6,039.31.

The lower close on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged following its first monetary policy meeting of 2025.

The decision to leave rates unchanged came as the Fed noted inflation remains "somewhat elevated" and reiterated its strong commitment to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.

The central bank's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for March 18-19; CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 77.6 percent chance the Fed will once again leave rates unchanged.

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday after data showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose last week, while concerns about the outlook for oil demand from China continued to weigh on prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures ended lower by $1.15 or 1.56 percent at $72.62 a barrel.