Renewed Selling Pressure Expected For Indonesia Stock Market

The Indonesia stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last eight trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 170 points or 3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just beneath the 6,490-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation amid volatility and uncertainty, with crude oil prices offering slight support. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The JCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the cement companies, weakness from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index gained 26.57 points or 0.41 percent to finish at 6,486.27 after trading between 6,460.09 and 6,504.01.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia fell 0.36 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.49 percent, Bank Mandiri jumped 1.45 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 0.96 percent, Indosat tanked 2.38 percent, Indocement rallied 2.74 percent, Semen Indonesia added 0.63 percent, Indofood Suskes gained 0.75 percent, United Tractors eased 0.28 percent, Astra International spiked 1.73 percent, Energi Mega Persada sank 1.59 percent, Astra Agro Lestari dipped 0.24 percent, Aneka Tambang surrendered 2.07 percent, Vale Indonesia retreated 1.49 percent, Timah declined 2.08 percent, Bumi Resources skidded 1.06 percent and Bank Negara Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street ends up being negative as the major averages spent all of Tuesday bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before finally settling slightly in the red.

The Dow dropped 117.72 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 34,378.34, while the NASDAQ dipped 20.28 points or 0.14 percent to close at 14,465.92 and the S&P 500 fell 10.54 points or 0.24 percent to end at 4,350.65.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed uncertainty about the outlook for the markets following the volatility seen throughout early October. Concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve scaling back stimulus as early as next month also weighed.

Earnings news was also on traders’ minds, with financial giant JPMorgan Chase (JPM) due to report Q3 results later today. Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Goldman Sachs (GS) are also due to report their results in the coming days.

Crude oil futures settled slightly higher Tuesday after prices moved up amid speculation the fuel market could get tighter this winter. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November rose $0.12 or about 0.2 percent at $80.64 a barrel.