Indonesia Bourse May Extend Losing Streak

The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking almost 60 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,750-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is decidedly soft on concerns about the economy and the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. bourses were sharply lower and the Asian markets are tipped to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index lost 49.89 points or 0.73 percent to finish at 6,751.86.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga declined 1.63 percent, while Bank Negara Indonesia was down 0.52 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.45 percent, Bank Mandiri lost 0.50 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia surrendered 1.41 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison fell 0.46 percent, Indocement stumbled 1.25 percent, Semen Indonesia soared 3.21 percent, Indofood Suskes increased 0.36 percent, United Tractors slumped 1.21 percent, Astra International shed 0.43 percent, Energi Mega Persada surged 3.90 percent, Astra Agro Lestari added 0.31 percent, Aneka Tambang dipped 0.26 percent, Vale Indonesia dropped 0.68 percent, Timah gained 0.42 percent, Bumi Resources sank 0.57 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened sharply lower on Thursday and remained deep in the red throughout the session.

The Dow plummeted 773.26 points or 2.28 percent to finish at 33,193.09, while the NASDAQ plunged 356.54 points or 3.19 percent to close at 10.814.35 and the S&P 500 tumbled 99.45 points or 2.49 percent to end at 3,895.87.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continued to weigh on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday was more hawkish than expected.

A batch of disappointing U.S. economic data also added to concerns the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes will push the economy into a recession.

Retail sales dropped more than expected last month, as did industrial production. Also, the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserves showed contractions in regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Thursday as concerns about easing supply following a partial restart of the Keystone Pipeline. The dollar’s rise on hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve weighed as well on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended lower by $1.17 or 1.5 percent at $76.11 a barrel.