IHSG closes lower amid concerns over US tariff policy
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) closed lower on Thursday afternoon amid market concerns over US tariff policies.
The JCI closed down 86.97 points, or 1.05 percent, to 8,235.26. Meanwhile, the group of 45 leading stocks, or the LQ45 index, fell 5.18 points, or 0.61 percent, to 837.89.
“Concerns about tariffs triggered a correction in the JCI on Thursday’s trading,” said Phintraco Sekuritas Research Head Ratna Lim in a statement in Jakarta on Thursday.
Ratna explained that the negative sentiment stemmed from news that the US Department of Commerce would impose tariffs on imported solar cells and panels from companies in India, Indonesia, and Laos, as the solar panel industry in the three countries is protected by subsidies.
The US set a tariff of 125.87 percent for solar cell and panel products from India, 104.38 percent for imports from Indonesia, and 80.67 percent for imports from Laos.
In addition to general tariffs, the US also calculates individual tariffs for companies. In Indonesia, PT Blue Sky Solar is subject to a tariff of 143.3 percent and PT REC Solar Energy is subject to a tariff of 85.99 percent.
Meanwhile, the US Trade Representative (USTR) plans to launch a Section 301 investigation into Indonesia’s trade practices to examine the country’s industrial capacity and fisheries subsidies.
The findings of the investigation will then be compared with the measures taken by Indonesia to address US concerns. After that, the USTR will make a decision on what type of tariffs should be applied. The US also plans to raise tariffs for a number of countries from 10 percent to 15 percent or higher.
The JCI opened higher but moved into negative territory until the close of the first trading session. In the second session, the JCI remained in the red until the close of trading.
Based on the IDX-IC Sector Index, all 11 sectors weakened, with the transportation & logistics sector falling the most by 2.60 percent, followed by the non-primary consumer goods sector and the raw materials sector, which fell by 1.98 percent and 1.74 percent, respectively.
The stocks that experienced the largest gains were MSKY, JAYA, DIVA, IFSH, and STAR. Meanwhile, the stocks that experienced the largest price declines were INDS, SKBM, ARKO, BUVA, and KONI.
The frequency of stock trading was recorded at 3,102,000 transactions, with a total of 54.17 billion shares traded, worth Rp28.08 trillion. As many as 157 shares rose, 594 shares fell, and 207 shares remained unchanged.
Regional Asian stock exchanges closed mixed on Thursday afternoon, with the Nikkei index up 238.38 points, or 0.41 percent, to 58,821.50, the Shanghai index down 0.60 points, or 0.01 percent, to 4,146.63, the Hang Seng index down 384.70 points, or 1.44 percent, to 26,381.02, the Kuala Lumpur index down 6.87 points, or 0.39 percent, to 1,740.94, and the Strait Times index down 43.35 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,964.38.