Indonesia Stock Market May Give Up Support At 6,800 Points

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping more than 80 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just shy of the 6,810-point plateau and it's likely in store for continued consolidation on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on continuing anxiety over the outlook for interest rates and tumbling oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to open under pressure.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 63.44 points or 0.92 percent to finish at 6,809.97.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia tanked 2.05 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga declined 1.20 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia plummeted 2.21 percent, Bank Central Asia dipped 0.29 percent, Bank Mandiri tumbled 1.96 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia weakened 1.24 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison plunged 2.94 percent, Indocement skidded 1.10 percent, Semen Indonesia stumbled 1.98 percent, Indofood Suskes climbed 1.15 percent, United Tractors jumped 1.35 percent, Astra International advanced 0.90 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.60 percent, Aneka Tambang retreated 1.44 percent, Vale Indonesia rose 0.37 percent, Timah lost 0.42 percent, Bumi Resources slumped 1.48 percent and Energi Mega Persada was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little guidance as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but faded late, allowing only the NASDAQ to finish in the green.

The Dow shed 84.50 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 33,045.09, while the NASDAQ rose 14.77 points or 0.13 percent to close at 11,507.07 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.29 points or 0.16 percent to end at 3,991.05.

The mixed close on Wall Street followed the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting. The minutes revealed a "few participants" favored raising rates by 50 basis points versus the 25 basis point rate hike that was ultimately announced.

The minutes noted all participants continued to anticipate that ongoing rate increases would be appropriate to achieve the Fed's dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Wednesday, extending their losing streak to six consecutive sessions on concerns about the outlook for global demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery plunged $2.41 or 3.1 percent to $73.95 a barrel on its first day as the front month contract.