BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day slide in which it had fallen more than 55 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,310-point plateau although it's looking at a soft start on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of the U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve rate decision this week. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and insurance companies, while the properties and oil stocks were soft.
For the day, the index jumped 38.19 points or 1.17 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,310.21 after trading as low as 3,263.84. The Shenzhen Composite Index spiked 38,38 points or 1.97 percent to end at 1,984.22.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China slid 0.33 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.20 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.25 percent, China Merchants Bank jumped 1.95 percent, China Life Insurance gained 0.68 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.48 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.25 percent, Yankuang Energy advanced 0.83 percent, PetroChina retreated 1.20 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.64 percent, Huaneng Power perked 0.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.78 percent, Gemdale plunged 3.75 percent, Poly Developments shed 0.55 percent, China Vanke fell 0.44 percent and Agricultural Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Monday, hugged the line for much of the day and finished in the red.
The Dow stumbled 257.59 points or 0.61 percent to finish at 41,794.60, while the NASDAQ shed 59.93 points or 0.33 percent to close at 18,179.98 and the S&P 500 sank 16.11 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,712.69.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the U.S. elections on Tuesday, as Vice President Kamala Harris faces off against former President Donald Trump.
With polls showing an extremely tight race between Harris and Trump, the outcome of the presidential election may not be known on Election Day.
Traders were also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, which is due to be announced on Thursday. The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by another 25 basis points, but traders will be looking to the accompanying statement for clues about the likelihood of future rate cuts.
Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, buoyed by OPEC's decision to delay plans to increase production, and on rising concerns about tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for December closed up $1.98 or about 2.85% at $71.47 a barrel, extending gains to a fourth straight session.
Closer to home, China will see October results for the services PMI from Caixin later this morning, with analysts expecting a score of 50.5 - up from 50.3 in September.
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