No Help Yet For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, surrendering almost 80 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 7,110-point plateau and it's looking at another weak lead for Tuesday's trade. The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be negative on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and recession fears. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the resource stocks, support from the cement companies and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index sank 64.45 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 7,107.98 after trading between 7,064.50 and 7,174.28. Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia collected 0.39 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.45 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia declined 2.35 percent, Bank Central Asia rallied 1.27 percent, Bank Mandiri added 0.29 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia lost 0.70 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison plunged 4.32 percent, Indocement rose 0.27 percent, Semen Indonesia gained 0.38 percent, Indofood Suskes climbed 1.14 percent, United Tractors improved 0.47 percent, Astra International was down 0.72 percent, Energi Mega Persada cratered 6.72 percent, Astra Agro Lestari tumbled 2.15 percent, Aneka Tambang tanked 3.64 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 4.62 percent, Timah retreated 2.31 percent and Bumi Resources sank 0.72 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is brutal as the major averages opened sharply lower and remained deep in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow plummeted 643.13 points or 1.91 percent to finish at 33,063.61, while the NASDAQ plunged 323.64 points or 2.55 percent to close at 12,381.57 and the S&P 500 sank 90.49 points or 2.14 percent to end at 4,137.99.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates contributed to the weakness on Wall Street ahead of this week's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming - where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to sound a more hawkish tone in his comments.

Aggressive monetary tightening by central banks in Europe add to the nervous sentiment, as do concerns about a possible recession in major economies.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday on concerns about outlook for energy demand, while the dollar's strength also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.54 or 0.6 percent at $90.23 a barrel.

Closer to home, the central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting later today and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate (3.50 percent), deposit facility rate (2.75 percent) and lending facility rate (4.25 percent) all unchanged.