Ahead of Wednesday's Labor Day holiday, the Indonesia stock market had climbed higher in three straight sessions, advancing more than 80 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,455-point plateau although investors may cash in on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on the outlook for interest rates and on sliding crude oil prices. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The JCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the food stocks and mixed performances from the financials and resource stocks.
For the day, the index gained 29.46 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 6,455.35 after trading between 6,428.25 and 6,457.82.
Among the actives, Indocement spiked 2.56 percent, while Semen Indocement dipped 0.18 percent, Bank Danamon Indonesia skidded 1.39 percent, Bank Mandiri shed 0.64 percent, Bank Central Asia climbed 1.14 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia fell 0.26 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia collected 0.69 percent, Indosat shed 0.38 percent, Indofood Suskes skyrocketed 8.17 percent, Unilever climbed 1.11 percent, United Tractors advanced 0.83 percent, Bumi Resources plummeted 4.65 percent, Aneka Tambang dropped 1.14 percent, Timah jumped 1.48 percent and Vale Indonesia sank 0.65 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks shook off early support on Wednesday and finished firmly in the red.
The Dow shed 162.77 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 26,430.14, while the NASDAQ lost 45.75 points or 0.57 percent to 8,049.64 and the S&P 500 fell 22.10 points or 0.75 percent to 2,923.73.
The late-day pullback came after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dashed traders' hopes for a near-term interest rate cut. The comments from Powell came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 2.25 to 2.50 percent for the third straight meeting.
Meanwhile, traders were also reacting to mixed economic data, as separate reports showed a jump in private sector employment and a significant slowdown in growth in the manufacturing sector.
Crude oil prices slid Wednesday after data showed a larger than expected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June settled at $63.62 a barrel, losing $0.15 or 0.24 percent for the session.
Closer to home, Indonesia will release April data for consumer prices later today; in March, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent on month and 2.5 percent on year, while core CPI climbed an annual 3.0 percent.
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