The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, dropping more than 130 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,810-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian is soft on sliding oil prices and renewed uncertainty over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, cement stocks and resource companies.
For the day, the index sank 50.58 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 6,812.72 after trading between 6,776.90 and 6,865.61.
Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.40 percent, while Bank Mandiri shed 0.48 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia lost 0.72 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 0.79 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.38 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia weakened 0.97 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison strengthened 1.36 percent, Indocement dropped 0.99 percent, Semen Indonesia dipped 0.43 percent, Indofood Suskes rallied2.31 percent, United Tractors plummeted 6.97 percent, Astra International sank 0.75 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 1.77 percent, Astra Agro Lestari slid 0.32 percent, Aneka Tambang soared 2.91 percent, Vale Indonesia skidded 1.08 percent, Timah declined 0.50 percent and Bumi Resources was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages spent much of the day hugging the unchanged line before sinking late in afternoon.
The Dow tumbled 270.29 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 33,414.24, while the NASDAQ lost 55.18 points or 0.46 percent to end at 12,025.33 and the S&P 500 sank 28.83 points or 0.70 percent to close at 4,090.75.
The lower close on Wall Street came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by another quarter-point but appeared to signal a potential pause in rate hikes.
However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments during his post-meeting press conference led to renewed uncertainty about the outlook for rates.
Powell said the central bank would take a "data-dependent approach" to future monetary policy decisions and stressed a decision on a pause was not made at the meeting.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid concerns about economic growth and the outlook for energy demand, as well as data showing an increase in gasoline inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $3.06 or 4.3 percent at $68.60 a barrel, the lowest settlement since March 24.
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