Jakarta. Indonesian stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday as investors digested Bank Indonesia's decision to keep interest rates unchanged despite recent tightening, while assessing the central bank's broader measures to support the rupiah and attract foreign capital.

Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) slipped 5 points, or 0.09%, to close at 6,334. The benchmark index traded between 6,284 and 6,394.

Trading volume reached more than 46.4 billion shares with a turnover of Rp 18.5 trillion ($1.03 billion) across over 2.7 million transactions. A total of 272 stocks gained, 340 declined, and 184 were unchanged.

Bank Indonesia (BI) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.75% on Wednesday, following three consecutive rate hikes since May. The central bank also maintained the Deposit Facility rate at 4.75% and the Lending Facility rate at 6.5%, while introducing additional measures to attract foreign portfolio inflows, stabilize the rupiah, and deepen domestic financial markets.

"The BI-Rate decision and these accompanying policy measures form an integrated policy mix aimed at further strengthening rupiah stability amid persistent global uncertainty, while keeping inflation within the target range in 2026 and 2027," Governor Perry Warjiyo said during a virtual press conference.

Perry also said foreign investor holdings of Bank Indonesia Rupiah Securities (SRBI) continued to increase as the central bank strengthened the appeal of domestic financial assets.

"Nonresident holdings of SRBI rose from Rp 238.09 trillion on June 15 to Rp 288.65 trillion on July 20, 2026," he said.

On the fiscal front, Pilarmas Sekuritas Indonesia said domestic sentiment remained relatively positive. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati reported that the state budget deficit in the first half of 2026 stood at 0.76% of GDP, or around Rp 196.5 trillion, well below the legal ceiling of 3% and in line with this year's deficit target of 2.68% of GDP.

Pilarmas also noted that the National Nutrition Agency's decision to cut the 2026 budget for the Free Meals (MBG) program to Rp 229 trillion from Rp 268 trillion could help preserve the government's fiscal health.

Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1%, and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.7%. China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1%.

Overnight on Wall Street, The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.3%.

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