No Help Yet For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, slumping almost 70 points or 1 percent in that span. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,280-point plateau and it's expected to extend its losing streak again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious ahead of key economic data later this week. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The JCI finished slightly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, resource stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index dipped 11.27 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 7,283.82 after trading between 7,252.28 and 7,295.14.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga advanced 0.99 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.02 percent, Bank Central Asia fell 0.25 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.82 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison plunged 2.74 percent, Indocement improved 0.83 percent, Semen Indonesia dropped 0.82 percent, Indofood Suskes retreated 1.49 percent, United Tractors gained 0.88 percent, Astra Agro Lestari sank 0.73 percent, Aneka Tambang tanked 2.26 percent, Vale Indonesia surrendered 3.04 percent, Timah tumbled 2.54 percent, Bumi Resources rallied 1.12 percent, Jasa Marga Persero soared 3.96 percent and Bank Mandiri, Astra International, Energi Mega Persada and Bank Negara Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed, ending with mild losses.

The Dow shed 62.30 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 39,069.23, while the NASDAQ lost 20.57 points or 0.13 percent to close at 15,976.25 and the S&P 500 fell 19.27 points or 0.38 percent to end at 5,069.53.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem be reluctant to make significant moves as they digest last week's gains, which lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to new record highs.

Traders were also cautious ahead of key inflation reports later this week from Germany, France and Spain - as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve's favored core measure of personal consumption expenditure prices.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a continued rebound in new home sales in the U.S. in January, although the increase fell short of estimates.

Oil prices pared early losses and climbed higher on Monday as continued attacks by Houthi militants in the Red Sea route raised concerns about supply. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.09 or 1.4 percent at $77.58 a barrel.