Indonesia Shares May Find Traction On Thursday

The Indonesia stock market has moved lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping almost 75 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just beneath the 6,800-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is rudderless amidst a lack of catalysts. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index shed 39.68 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 6,804.11 after trading between 6,760.10 and 6,830.94.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga lost 0.58 percent, while Bank Mandiri fell 0.43 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.10 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia slumped 1.21 percent, Bank Central Asia collected 0.28 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia was down 0.48 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison tanked 2.13 percent, Indocement declined 1.27 percent, Semen Indonesia stumbled 1.55 percent, Indofood Suskes shed 0.39 percent, United Tractors plunged 2.46 percent, Astra International retreated 1.72 percent, Energi Mega Persada crashed 8.33 percent, Astra Agro Lestari slid 0.36 percent, Aneka Tambang tumbled 1.78 percent, Vale Indonesia plummeted 2.43 percent, Timah sank 0.75 percent and Bumi Resources dropped 1.83 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher, quickly dipped into the red and finished mixed and little changed.

The Dow shed 40.33 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 34,112.27, while the NASDAQ rose 10.56 points or 0.08 percent to close at 13,650.41 and the S&P 500 perked 4.40 points or 0.10 percent to end at 4,382.78.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves following recent strength in the markets.

Amid the focus on the outlook for interest rates, traders kept a close eye on remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell – but he refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy, focusing instead on praise for the work done by the Fed’s Division of Research and Statistics.

Traders also shrugged off results of the Treasury Department’s auction of $40 billion worth of ten-year notes, which attracted average demand.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid concerns about the outlook for demand and a jump in U.S. crude oil inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December lost $2.04 or about 2.6 percent at $75.33 a barrel.

Closer to home, Indonesia will release September data for retail sales later today; in August, sales were up 1.1 percent on year.