The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 200 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,150-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests consolidation, with the volatile technology stocks in particular expected to weigh. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The JCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks.
For the day, the index sank 96.57 points or 1.54 percent to finish at 6,156.14 after trading between 6,143.38 and 6,239.55.
Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia tanked 2.67 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga retreated 3.14 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dropped 2.46 percent, Bank Central Asia lost 1.90 percent, Bank Mandiri declined 3.75 percent, Telkom Indonesia rose 0.30 percent, Indocement surrendered 2.07 percent, Semen Indonesia climbed 1.32 percent, Indofood Suskes advanced 0.75 percent, United Tractors dropped 1.63 percent, Astra International sank 2.24 percent, Astra Agro Lestari skidded 1.84 percent, Aneka Tambang cratered 4.41 percent, Vale Indonesia tumbled 4.44 percent, Timah plunged 6.09 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 6.85 percent and Indosat and Bank Rakyat Indonesia were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but then headed south and eventually finished in the red.
The Dow eased 3.09 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 32,420.06, while the NASDAQ plummeted 265.81 points or 2.01 percent to end at 12,961.89 and the S&P 500 lost 21.38 points or 0.55 percent to close at 3,889.14.
Lingering concerns about the outlook for high-growth companies contributed to the sell-off by technology stocks, which have seen considerable volatility in recent sessions.
Unlike previous sessions, the weakness in the tech sector came amid a continued pullback by treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note moved lower for the third straight day and has now fallen 14 basis points since reaching a fourteen-month intraday high last Thursday.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods unexpectedly decreased in February.
Crude oil futures surged on Wednesday after a container ship got struck in the Suez Canal and raised concerns about possible supply disruptions. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended up $3.42 or 5.9 percent at $61.18 a barrel.
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