Indonesia Bourse May Take Further Damage On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Indonesia stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped almost 280 points or 4 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now sits just above the 7,160-point plateau and it's got another weak lead for Friday's trade.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over the conflict in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The JCI finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financial, telecom and resource sectors.

For the day, the index tumbled 138.03 points or 1.89 percent to finish at 7,164.09 after trading between 7,152.59 and 7,323.70.

Among the actives, Bank CIMB Niaga fell 0.28 percent, while Bank Mandiri stumbled 2.62 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dropped 0.99 percent, Bank Central Asia shed 0.36 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia slumped 1.41 percent, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison sank 3.18 percent, Semen Indonesia skidded 1.15 percent, Indofood Sukses Makmur gained 0.83 percent, United Tractors perked 0.08 percent, Astra International crashed 5.30 percent, Energi Mega Persada tumbled 3.37 percent, Aneka Tambang plummeted 5.25 percent, Vale Indonesia retreated 2.18 percent, Timah cratered 5.67 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 5.31 percent and Astra Agro Lestari, Indocement and Bank Danamon Indonesia were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and continued to trend sharply lower as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow tumbled 469.38 points or 1.01 percent to finish at 45,960.11, while the NASDAQ plummeted 521.75 points or 2.38 percent to close at 21,408.08 and the S&P 500 slumped 114.74 points or 1.74 percent to end at 6,477.16.

The sell-off on Wall Street extended the see-saw trend seen over the past few sessions, as traders reacted to continued volatility by the price of crude oil.

Crude prices skyrocketed Thursday as the U.S.-Iran standoff over the 15-point peace proposal deepens the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $4.51 or 4.99 percent at $94.83 per barrel.

Concerns about further widening of the conflict also weighed on the markets after several Gulf countries issued a joint statement condemning Iran's "criminal" attacks on their energy infrastructure.