The Indonesia stock market on Wednesday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 110 points or 1.9 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,225-point plateau and it figures to open under pressure again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian is negative, with more profit taking expected after recent gains. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The JCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financials shares, resource stocks and cement companies.
For the day, the index dropped 64.67 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 6,227.73 after trading between 6,209.31 and 6,314.56.
Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia tumbled 1.81 percent, while Bank Mandiri surrendered 1.93 percent, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.51 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia lost 3.15 percent, Bank Central Asia slid 0.58 percent, Indosat tanked 4.94 percent, Indocement declined 3.07 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.45 percent, United Tractors skidded 1.08 percent, Astra Agro Lestari retreated 2.86 percent, Aneka Tambang cratered 4.18 percent, Vale Indonesia sank 2.41 percent, Timah plummeted 5.15 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 4.69 percent and Indofood Suskes was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened in the red on Wednesday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow was able to finish in the green.
The Dow gained 90.27 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 31,613.02, while the NASDAQ sank 82.00 points or 0.58 percent to end at 13,965.50 and the S&P 500 eased 1.26 points or 0.03 percent to close at 3,931.33.
The early weakness on Wall Street followed the release of a batch of largely upbeat U.S. economic data, which painted a positive picture of the economy but also added to recent inflation concerns.
The Commerce Department said retail sales spiked 5.3 percent in January, while the Federal Reserve said industrial production increased more than expected last month and the Labor Department said producer prices jumped much more than expected in January.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting also signaled the central bank is likely to leave policy unchanged for the foreseeable future, offsetting concerns about the impact of inflation.
Crude oil futures ended sharply higher on Wednesday amid rising concerns over likely disruptions in supply due to severe cold weather in Texas. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended up $1.09 or 1.8 percent at $61.14 a barrel.
Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is expected to trim its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 3.50 percent from 3.75 percent.
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