Indonesian stocks suffer their worst single-day crash in 28 years after MSCI strips the country of 'emerging market' status

Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index plunged 11.4% on Friday — its steepest one-day fall since January 1998 — after MSCI ruled the country's emerging market status was "no longer appropriate" and proposed relegating it to "standalone" classification, a category worse than frontier status. Indonesian shares have lost nearly 40% in 2026, making them the world's worst-performing equity market.

Blue-chip stocks including major lenders, miners and energy firms fell nearly 15% — the exchange's lower limit — while the rupiah sank to 18,070 per US dollar.

A standalone classification would place Indonesia alongside Argentina, Lebanon, Palestine and Ukraine, making it the only Asia-Pacific market in that category and by far its largest economy.

MSCI will announce its final decision by the end of June 2027, saying it will proceed unless there is "clear evidence of material improvements in market governance and functioning."