BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, although it's given up just 3 points or 0.1 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,370-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on tariff concerns, particularly among the technology companies. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The SCI finished barely lower again on Wednesday following weakness from the financial shares and mixed performances from the resource and property sectors.
For the day, the index dipped 1.28 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 3,368.70 after trading between 3,365.67 and 3,382.34. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 7.95 points or 0.39 percent to end at 2,046.12.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.29 percent, while China Construction Bank sank 0.69 percent, China Merchants Bank plunged 5.39 percent, Agricultural Bank of China shed 0.39 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.16 percent, Jiangxi Copper and PetroChina both added 0.37 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 2.41 percent, Yankuang Energy slid 0.29 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slipped 0.17 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.42 percent, China Shenhua Energy improved 0.74 percent, Gemdale jumped 1.97 percent, Poly Developments was down 0.12 percent, China Vanke perked 0.14 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but all trended lower as the day progressed, ending solidly under water.
The Dow dropped 132.71 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 42,454.79, while the NASDAQ tumbled 372.84 points or 2.04 percent to close at 17,899.02 and the S&P 500 sank 64,45 points or 1.12 percent to end at 5,712.20.
The sharp pullback by the NASDAQ came as big-name tech stocks came under pressure, reflecting ongoing uncertainty about President Donald Trump's tariff plans.
Stocks saw further downside after the White House said Trump plans to announce new tariffs on auto imports later this afternoon.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department noted an unexpected increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of February.
Oil prices moved higher Wednesday on supply concerns after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week, while renewed efforts from the U.S. to limit Venezuelan and Iranian oil exports also boosted prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed up $0.65 or about 0.94 percent at $69.65 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see February figures for industrial profits later today; in January, profits were down 3.3 percent on year.
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