The Indonesia stock market has finished lower in back-to-back trading days, slipping almost 15 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Jakarta Composite Index now rests just above the 6,180-point plateau although it's expected to find traction on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the FOMC's decision to leave interest rates unchanged. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow that lead.
The JCI finished barely lower on Wednesday as losses from the cement companies were offset by support from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financials.
For the day, the index dipped 3.41 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 6,180.10 after trading between 6,171.93 and 6,204.60.
Among the actives, Bank Mandiri shed 0.34 percent, while Bank Central Asia collected 0.24 percent, Bank Negara Indonesia dropped 0.99 percent, Bank Rakyat Indonesia advanced 0.96 percent, Indosat sank 0.66 percent, Indocement tumbled 2.86 percent, Semen Indonesia plunged 3.25 percent, Indofood Suskes skidded 1.26 percent, Bumi Resources surged 5.88 percent, Vale Indonesia accelerated 1.88 percent, Timah added 0.61 percent and Bank Danamon Indonesia and Aneka Tambang were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is positive, mostly in response to the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy announcement.
The Dow added 29.58 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 27,911.30, while the NASDAQ gained 37.87 points or 0.44 percent to 8,654.05 and the S&P rose 9.11 points or 0.29 percent to 3,141.63.
The higher close on Wall Street came after the Fed decided to leave interest rates unchanged following three straight rate cuts. The decision was widely expected, although the Fed's projections showed a majority of meeting participants now expect interest rates to remain on hold throughout 2020.
In its accompanying statement, the Fed said the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate to support a sustained economic expansion, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near its symmetric 2 percent objective.
Crude oil prices eased on Wednesday after data showed a surprise increase in crude inventories in the U.S. last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures for January ended down $0.48 or 0.8 percent at $58.76 a barrel.
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