The Indonesia stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one session after ending the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 45 points or 0.8 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 5,940-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian suggests consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and stimulus. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and the resource stocks.
For the day, the index lost 37.44 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 5,938.35 after trading between 5,911.38 and 5,966.66.
Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.50 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia sank 0.90 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.93 percent, Bank Mandiri skidded 1.26 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia declined 1.48 percent, Indosat dropped 0.82 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.25 percent, United Tractors retreated 1.38 percent, Astra International plunged 2.79 percent, Astra Agro Lestari tanked 2.87 percent, Aneka Tambang shed 0.37 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.37 percent, Timah eased 0.27 percent, Bumi Resources climbed 1.61 percent and Indocement, Indofood Suskes and Bank Danamon Indonesia were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the session.
The Dow plunged 473.66 points or 1.36 percent to finish at 34,269.16, while the NASDAQ dipped 12.43 points or 0.09 percent to end at 13,389.43 and the S&P 500 fell 36.33 points or 0.87 percent to close at 4,152.10.
The weakness on Wall Street reflected concerns about an acceleration in the rate of inflation and potential monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.
Adding to the inflation concerns, the Labor Department said the number of job openings reached a series high of 8.1 million on the last business day of March. The data led to worries that employers will have to raise wages to entice workers, which could prompt higher inflation.
Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday following a report from OPEC that said demand is expected to rise by 5.95 million barrels per day or 6.6 percent this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.36 or 0.6 percent at $65.28 a barrel.
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