Jakarta. Indonesian stocks edged higher at the open Thursday but quickly gave up most of their gains as investors weighed a slight drop in the country’s foreign exchange reserves against renewed pressure in global markets.

Jakarta Composite Index rose 8 points, or 0.13%, to 6,154 in early trading before moving between 6,112 and 6,179.

RTI data showed 1.98 billion shares had changed hands in the opening minutes, with transactions valued at Rp 336.61 billion ($18.81 million) across 64,078 trades. A total of 215 stocks gained, 216 declined and 228 were unchanged.

Phintraco Sekuritas said Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves fell slightly to $146.3 billion in September from $146.5 billion in August.

The decline was driven by government foreign loan withdrawals and tax and service receipts, which were offset by government external debt repayments and Bank Indonesia’s rupiah stabilization measures.

The reserves were equivalent to 5.3 months of imports, or 5.2 months of imports and government external debt payments. Phintraco said the relatively stable reserve position suggested Bank Indonesia still had sufficient room to maintain rupiah stability.

“This is because Bank Indonesia also has various other instruments to maintain rupiah stability. Investors will next focus on the consumer confidence index, which is expected to stand at 118 in September and will be released today,” Phintraco Sekuritas said.

Adjusted base money (M0) also grew 9.3% year-on-year in September, extending its positive growth from August, when it rose 16.3%. Phintraco said the development was influenced by growth in currency in circulation.

Global market sentiment remained weak after Wall Street ended lower Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.66%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each declined 0.22%, according to Kiwoom Sekuritas Indonesia.

The drop came as US Treasury yields climbed to their highest level since 2002, while investors continued to weigh inflation pressures, elevated risk-asset valuations and the sustainability of earnings growth among semiconductor and technology stocks following their recent gains.

Geopolitical risks also intensified after the Trump administration was reported to have asked the Pentagon to develop options for a possible strike on Iran before the US midterm elections.

“This development heightened concerns over the stability of global energy supply,” Kiwoom said trough their research on Thursday.

Regional markets were also mostly lower as of 9:51 a.m. Jakarta time. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.95%, South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.77% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.29%. Shanghai’s SSE Composite was nearly flat, slipping 0.02%.

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