JAKARTA – Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) fell further by 6.12% to 6,076.08 by the close of the first trading session on Tuesday (18/3). Earlier, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) halted trading for 30 minutes after JCI dropped 5.02% at 11:19 WIB today.

Head of Research at Kiwoom Sekuritas Indonesia, Liza Camelia Suryanata, attributed the steep JCI decline to several market sentiments, including a rise in layoffs ahead of the Eid holiday, credit rating assessments by Fitch, S&P, and Moody’s, and rumours of a cabinet reshuffle involving two key ministers, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani. However, Ja Presidential Palace spokesperson has denied the reshuffle rumours.

JCI drop has pushed Indonesia’s P/E Ratio and PBV below the regional average, although they remain higher than markets in Shanghai, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, and Japan. “But none have fallen as sharply as we have today,” Liza told IDNFinancials.com.

“Other governments seem to care about their stock markets,” she added.

Despite the severity of the decline, Liza believes that the government and market authorities cannot immediately intervene, as the significant drop has occurred within just one trading session.

She advised investors to hold their positions and adopt a wait-and-see approach until JCI stabilises around its nearest support levels. “6,000–5,880 is the psychological level. Let’s see,” Liza said.

According to data compiled by IDNFinancials.com, today's JCI decline places Indonesia as the worst-performing composite index among 46 other countries. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Index led the global rankings, rising 2.05% as of 12 PM WIB today. (KR/ZH)