Soft Start Predicted For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Monday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,870-point plateau and it's expected to extend its losses on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The JCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, cement companies and resource stocks.

For the day, the index lost 26.50 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 6,872.48. Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia retreated 1.48 percent, Bank CIMB Niaga collected 0.43 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia tumbled 2.62 percent, Bank Mandiri sank 0.75 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia was down 0.65 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison slid 0.42 percent, Indocement declined 0.76 percent, Semen Indonesia slumped 0.69 percent, Indofood Suskes jumped 1.49 percent, United Tractors declined 1.27 percent, Energi Mega Persada tanked 2.36 percent, Astra Agro Lestari lost 0.61 percent, Aneka Tambang fell 0.43 percent, Vale Indonesia skidded 1.35 percent, Timah plunged 3.44 percent, Bumi Resources shed 0.65 percent and Bank Central Asia, Astra International and Jasa Marga were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel.