Indonesian stocks and the rupiah remained under heavy pressure on Wednesday (25/04) after the benchmark ten-year US bond yields passed beyond the 3 percent level (for the first time since early 2014), thus lifting the US dollar and causing capital outflows from emerging markets. While most Asian stocks are trading in red territory today, Indonesian stocks are the most badly affected. The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index tumbled 2.40 percent to 6,079.85 points.

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Asian markets were the first to react to American-led strikes on Syria carried out on late Friday evening (13/04). The strikes were an answer to a chemical attack in Douma on April 7, allegedly conducted by the Syrian government under the leadership of President Bashar Assad. The US strike on Syria - supported by France and the United Kingdom - caused US-Russian relations to hit a new low. However, the strike did not lead to direct military confrontations between the USA and Russia and therefore markets are somewhat relieved on Monday.

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Despite the selloff on Wall Street overnight where the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.23 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.74 percent, losses in Asia were less severe on Tuesday morning (03/04) as these losses were kept below 1 percent, overall. The selloff on Wall Street, partially driven by a sell-off of tech industry giants, was the weakest start of the second quarter for US shares since the Great Depression.

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Many Asian stocks are in deep red territory dragged down by a 3.49 percent decline of Japan's Nikkei 225 index in the morning of Friday (23/03). The Nikkei 225 is responding to plunging stocks on Wall Street overnight where the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2.9 percent, while both the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.5 percent, each. All three benchmark US indexes suffered their biggest drops since 8 February 2018.

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As was widely expected by markets, the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate to the range of 1.50 - 1.75 percent, which is the highest level since 2008, at the March 2018 monthly policy meeting on Wednesday (21/03). The rate hike was already priced in as few expected a different decision, hence most Southeast Asian stock indexes are up on Thursday (22/03), including Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index that rose 0.19 percent to 6,324.78 points in the first trading session.

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Amid mixed markets in Asia, Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell 0.95 percent to 6,321.90 points on Thursday (15/03). Asian markets were plagued by the same negative market sentiments that caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 to suffer their third consecutive daily decline overnight. Investors continue to be alarmed by trade policy changes initiated by the USA and possibly responded by other nations.

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Most Asian stocks are in the red zone on Wednesday (07/03) after it was reported that Gary Cohn is to resign as adviser to US President Donald Trump. Cohn, who is well-regarded in the business community and markets, opposes Trump's looming protectionist import tariffs (a 25 percent import tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum). Seeing Cohn lose the battle in the White House, markets have become more concerned about the possible outbreak of a global trade war.

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Indonesia's benchmark Composite Index touched a new record high on Monday (19/02) after surging 1.48 percent to finish at 6,689.29 points, particularly on the back of surging basic industry & chemicals and property shares. The performance of Indonesian stocks was in line with the overall performance of Asian stocks today. Japan's Nikkei 225 almost surged 2 percent. Benchmark indexes in Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam also rose more than 1 percent today.

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Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced another correction, in fact: a brutal sell-off. After Monday's heavy losses, the Dow Jones plunged 4.15 percent to 23,860 points on Thursday (08/02). Besides the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 has also entered "correction territory" (having fallen over ten percent since their January highs). The mini correction that we saw on Tuesday may have been the eye in the storm only.

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There is major concern that Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index will continue to move deeper in red territory on Tuesday (06/02). Yesterday, on the first trading day of the week, the index had already fallen 0.59 percent to 6,589.68 points tracking Wall Street and European markets on Friday that went down amid concerns over sharply rising interest rates (with US 10-year bond yields reaching a four-year high).

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Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index experienced another tough day on Monday (14/11). After Indonesian stocks plunged 4.01 percent on Friday, stocks fell another 2.2 percent today. Not only Indonesia, but most Asian markets are hit by the selloff, particularly the emerging markets of Southeast Asia. Investors are re-evaluating their emerging market assets now Donald Trump has been elected the next US president (and who can rely on a Republican-controlled US Congress). To make matters worse, current uncertainty is expected to persist in the next couple of months.

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On Tuesday 8 November the people of the world's largest economy will vote for their next president. According to the latest polls the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is too close to call. This is the reason why we saw the global selloff last week: markets had already priced in a Clinton victory (who was leading the polls earlier) but when polls started to suggest a rather tight battle, many investors turned to safe haven assets. In the coming days investors will remain focused on the US presidential election.

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Asian stocks, including Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index, continue their persistent slide on Friday (04/11) ahead of the US presidential election on Tuesday 8 November 2016. By 10:45 am local Jakarta time, Indonesian stocks were down 0.29 percent to 5,314.00 points, while the rupiah had depreciated 0.14 percent to IDR 13,093 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index). Besides the too-close-to-call US election, investors are also keeping an eye on the mass demonstration in Jakarta today.

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Indonesian assets were the worst performers in Asia on Thursday's trading day (03/11). Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (IHSG) fell 1.41 percent to 5,329.50 points, the largest single-day drop in the past two months. The performance of Indonesia was in line with the regional (and global) trend. Over the past couple of days a worldwide selloff occurred as polls indicate that the US presidential race between Hillary Clinton (Democrats) and Donald Trump (Republicans) is tighter than initially assumed.

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In line with the performance of most stocks in Asia, Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index plunged 1.66 percent to 5,281.92 points on Friday (09/09). Several matters brought negative market sentiments to Asia: the European Central Bank (ECB) seems unwilling to boost asset purchases, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test, while Indonesia's central bank announced that the nation's retail sales expanded at a slower pace in July 2016. Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah depreciated 0.34 percent to IDR 13,108 per US dollar (Bloomberg Dollar Index).

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Many things happened this week. A devastating terror attack in Nice (France) killed at least 84 people, while - at the time of writing - a coup attempt occurred in Turkey (that seems to have failed). However, these events have little impact on the performance of global stocks and currencies (with the obvious exception of the Turkish lira). Wall Street touched record highs, while Indonesian stocks rose to a 13-month high and the Indonesian rupiah strengthened to a four-month high. Lets take a closer look at the performance of these markets over the past week.

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As expected, Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell on Friday (01/07) due to profit-taking after an impressive recent (relief) rally that brought the index into bull market territory earlier this week. Meanwhile, the Indonesian rupiah maintained its momentum, appreciating 0.72 percent to IDR 13,115 per US dollar on the first day of the new month, the currency's strongest level in three and a half months. Most Asian emerging markets have now repaired their earlier Brexit-induced losses.

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The Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) is serious about becoming the largest stock exchange in the ASEAN region - in terms of transaction value and the number of listed companies - by the year 2020. Currently, Singapore remains the largest stock exchange in the ASEAN region with a market capitalization of about USD $640 billion (in 2015), nearly twice the size of Indonesia's stock exchange (the market capitalization is the number of total outstanding shares at the exchange multiplied by their stock prices).

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Although Indonesia's benchmark Jakarta Composite Index has risen 4.81 percent since the start of 2016 (thus being among the world's best-performing benchmark stock indices so far this year, especially if the 5.17 percent appreciation of the rupiah is included into the calculation), not all Indonesian blue chip stocks, or big caps, have risen. Several examples are Blue Bird, Bank Pan Indonesia, Bank Permata, Global Mediacom, Surya Citra Media, and Sarana Menara Nusantara. Why did these stocks not rise so far in 2016? We zoom in on three cases.

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When we look at all of the activity in financial markets this year, some interesting trends have started to emerge for those looking to invest in Asia. Stock markets in Indonesia have shown strong rallies, and have started to reverse many of the multi-year declines that have been characterizing the region. This inspired a great deal of attention for Indonesia’s stock benchmarks, as it is looking increasingly likely that improvements in the underlying economic data will continue bringing in buyers for these markets.

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