The Indonesia stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 140 points or 2.3 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 5,845-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on geopolitical concerns, interest rate fears and a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The JCI finished modestly lower on Thursday following weakness from the cement and resource stocks, while the financials came in mixed.
For the day, the index sank 23.38 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 5,845.24 after trading between 5,811.92 and 5,858.79.
Among the actives, Lotte Chemical soared 3.07 percent, while Bank Pan Indonesia surged 6.51 percent, Jasa Marga tumbled 2.27 percent, SLJ Global skidded 1.96 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia shed 1.05 percent, Bank Central Asia retreated 1.77 percent, Bank Mandiri dropped 1.14 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia declined 1.71 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.65 percent, Indosat spiked 1.92 percent, Bumi Resources plunged 2.75 percent, Vale Indonesia lost 1.84 percent, Aneka Tambang was down 1.92 percent, Indocement fell 1.63 percent and Semen Indonesia, Bukit Darmo Property, XL Axiata, Bank MNC Internasional and Voksel Electric were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks moved sharply lower on Thursday. The major averages attempted a recovery after seeing early weakness but saw a significant pullback as the day progressed.
The Dow shed 327.36 points or 1.27 percent to finish at 25,379.32, while the NASDAQ lost 157.56 points or 2.06 percent to 7,485.14 and the S&P fell 40.43 points or 1.44 percent to 2,768.78.
The sell-off on Wall Street came after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he will not attend an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia - which continues to face considerable international pressure over the disappearance and apparent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets as the Fed's forecasts point to one more rate hike before the end of this year - with more to follow in 2019.
In economic news, the Labor Department noted a drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 13. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said manufacturing activity grew at a slower rate in October. And the Conference Board said its index of leading U.S. economic indicators increased as expected in September.
Crude oil futures settled at a five-week low on Thursday, extending the previous session's losses due to a sharp jump in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for November delivery ended down $1.10 or 1.6 percent at $68.65 a barrel.
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