Indonesia stocks slide after foreign nationals executed

Indonesian stocks fell the most since August 2013 on Wednesday as investors reacted to falling corporate earnings and the execution of eight foreign nationals on Tuesday evening.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell as much as 4.3% and ended trading 2.6% lower overall.

The execution included two Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, three Nigerians, a Brazilian, an Indonesian and a Ghanaian.

Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it would withdraw its ambassador from Jakarta and called the executions unnecessary. "We respect Indonesia's sovereignty, but we do deplore what's been done and this cannot be simply business as usual," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.

Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop has not ruled out cutting aid to the country. Australia is the second-biggest aid donor after Japan, making around $600m (£390m, €543m) a year in donations.

Michael Every, head of financial markets research Rabobank Group in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg that the executions were not "foreign investor friendly," and that it is "difficult to find anything much positive to mention on the political or economic front in Indonesia of late."

Trade between Australia and Indonesia reached $9.7bn in the year to June 30 last year.