Indonesia Stock Market May Extend Tuesday’s Losses

The Indonesia stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had improved almost 70 points or 1 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,860-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on geopolitical concerns over escalation of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow a similar path.

The JCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the cement stocks and mixed performances from the financials and resource companies.

For the day, the index fell 40.97 points or 0.59 percent to finish at 6,861.99 after trading between 6,823.94 and 6,904.00.

Among the actives, Bank Danamon Indonesia retreated 1.24 percent, while Bank CIMB Niaga shed 0.49 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia surrendered 1.90 percent, Bank Central Asia dropped 0.63 percent, Bank Mandiri collected 0.32 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 1.34 percent, Indosat surged 5.91 percent, Indocement lost 0.45 percent, Semen Indonesia fell 0.34 percent, Indofood Suskes jumped 1.99 percent, United Tractors eased 0.11 percent, Energi Mega Persada soared 4.65 percent, Bakrie Sumatera Plantations plunged 6.92 percent, Astra Agro Lestari declined 1.33 percent, Aneka Tambang added 0.46 percent, Vale Indonesia climbed 1.22 percent, Timah tumbled 1.69 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 5.71 percent and Astra International was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests consolidation as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday but saw losses accelerate as the day progressed, ending firmly in the red.

The Dow plunged 482.57 points or 1.42 percent to finish at 33,596.61, while the NASDAQ tumbled 166.55 points or 1.23 percent to end at 13,381.52 and the S&P 500 dropped 44.11 points or 1.01 percent to close at 4,304.76.

The weakness on Wall Street came after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two Ukrainian separatist regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as sovereign states and sent troops into those territories as “peacekeepers.”

Describing the latest actions by Russia as the beginning of an invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the first tranche of U.S. sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions, VEB and Russia’s military bank, and Russia’s sovereign debt, as well as Russian elites and their family members.

The U.K. also announced a first tranche of sanctions on Russia, targeting five Russian banks and three “very high net worth” individuals.

Oil prices moved up sharply Tuesday on concerns over supplies following Russia’s aggressive move into Ukraine. It is feared that a full-blown conflict in Ukraine could cause major disruption to crude supplies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended higher by $1.70 or 1.9 percent at $91.91 a barrel.