Indonesia Stock Market May Stop The Bleeding On Wednesday

The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, sliding almost 100 points or 1.6 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,490-point plateau although it’s expected to find traction on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on earnings optimism and ahead of the FOMC’s monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index sank 59.61 points or 0.91 percent to finish at 6,493.28 after trading between 6,480.01 and 6,573.69.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia tumbled 1.93 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga retreated 2.31 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia gave away 0.73 percent, Bank Central Asia fell 1.35 percent, Bank Mandiri declined 2.09 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia dipped 0.47 percent, Indosat plunged 3.75 percent, Indocement dropped 0.84 percent, Semen Indonesia tanked 2.71 percent, United Tractors surrendered 2.54 percent, Astra International was down 2.07 percent, Astra Agro Lestari rallied 2.10 percent, Aneka Tambang lost 0.86 percent, Vale Indonesia sank 0.83 percent, Timah slid 1.28 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 4.11 percent and Indofood Suskes and Energi Mega Persada were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages immediately shook off a soft open in Tuesday and moved into the green, finishing the day at fresh record highs.

The Dow climbed 138.79 points or 0.39 percent to finish at 36,052.63, while the NASDAQ gained 53.69 points or 0.34 percent to close at 15,649.60 and the S&P 500 rose 16.98 points or 0.37 percent to end at 4,630.65.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum, as traders reacted to another batch of upbeat earnings news from the likes of athletic apparel maker Under Armour (UAA), drugmaker Pfizer (PFE) and chemical company DuPont (DD).

Overall trading activity was subdued, however, as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Fed announcement. The Fed is expected to announce plans to begin scaling back its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases by next month.

The language of the Fed’s statement is likely to be in focus as traders look for clues about the outlook for interest rates amid concerns about the high rate of inflation.

Crude oil futures settled lower Tuesday on concerns about growth after data showed a slowdown in Eurozone manufacturing activity amid rising input costs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December settled at $83.91 a barrel, losing $0.14 or 0.2 percent.