Indonesia Bourse May Find Support On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, slumping almost 220 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just shy of the 6,990-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement as the world waits for developments in the Middle East. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index slipped 18.40 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 6,971.03 after trading between 6,942.63 and 7,022.04.

Among the actives, Bank Mandiri crashed 2.17 percent, while Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.39 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia plummeted 3.57 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia tanked 2.42 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison rallied 2.46 percent, Indocement slumped 1.95 percent, Semen Indonesia lost 2.88 percent, United Tractors stumbled 1.80 percent, Astra International cratered 3.28 percent, Energi Mega Persada shed 0.65 percent, Astra Agro Lestari declined 1.28 percent, Aneka Tambang plunged 4.93 percent, Vale Indonesia advanced 0.88 percent, Timah retreated 1.69 percent, Bumi Resources tumbled 2.48 percent and Indofood Sukses Makmur, Bank CIMB Niaga and Bank Central Asia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity s the major averages spent most of Tuesday well under water before a late push saw them end mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 85.42 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 46,584.46, while the NASDAQ rose 21.51 points or 0.10 percent to close at 22,017.85 and the S&P 500 perked 5.02 points or 0.08 percent to end at 6,616.85.

Stocks showed a notable move to the upside late in the trading day after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on President Donald Trump to extend his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by two weeks to "allow diplomacy to run its course."

Trump had earlier threatened to attack Iran's power plants and bridges if Tehran fails to reach a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8 pm ET.

Crude oil prices have inched higher on Tuesday as Iran remains unresponsive to U.S. threats to open up the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $0.65 or 0.58 percent at $113.06 per barrel.