Soft Start Called For Indonesia Stock Market

(RTTNews) - Ahed of the weeklong break for the Saka New Year and Eid-ul-Fitr, the Indonesia stock market had ended the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 410 points or 5.8 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,100-point plateau and it's expected to open decidedly lower on Wednesday as it catches up on missed sentiment.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests renewed pressure thanks to a rebound by crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The JCI finished sharply higher on March 17 following gains from the financial shares, resource stocks and cement companies.

For the day, the index jumped 84.55 points or 1.20 percent to finish at 7,106.84 after trading between 7,059.89 and 7,148.25.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga spiked 2.59 percent, while Bank Mandiri collected 0.64 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia vaulted 1.21 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia jumped 1.62 percent, Bank Central Asia rose 0.37 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison soared 6.44 percent, Indocement expanded 1.38 percent, Semen Indonesia accelerated 3.70 percent, United Tractors rallied 1.78 percent, Astra International dropped 0.85 percent, Energi Mega Persada was up 0.36 percent, Astra Agro Lestari fell 0.35 percent, Aneka Tambang strengthened 3.02 percent, Vale Indonesia improved 4.21 percent, Timah gained 2.79 percent, Bumi Resources advanced 0.98 percent and Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Indofood Sukses Makmur were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and bounced back and forth cross the unchanged line before settling slightly in the red.

The Dow shed 84.41 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 46,124.06, while the NASDAQ dropped 184.87 points or 0.84 percent to end at 21,761.89 and the S&P 500 sank 24.63 points or 0.37 percent to close at 6,556.37.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid a rebound by the price of crude oil, with international benchmark Brent crude futures surging back above $100 a barrel.

Crude oil prices surged on Tuesday as market participants found U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of U.S.-Iran peace talks to be unfounded. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.90 or 4.43 percent at $92.03 per barrel.

Iran's foreign ministry said Trump's remarks were "part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time" for military plans.