BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, plummeting almost 140 points or 4.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,060-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mildly positive on rebounding crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the oil companies were offset by support from the financials and a mixed picture from the property sector.
For the day, the index sank 23.90 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 3,062.50 after trading between 3,050.03 and 3,107.76. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 40.18 points or 2.41 percent to end at 1,625.62.
Among the actives, Gemdale lost 0.74 percent, while Poly Developments perked 1.66 percent, China Vanke rose 0.93 percent, CITIC Securities tumbled 2.42 percent, PetroChina shed 0.27 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.58 percent, Bank of China collected 0.78 percent, China Construction Bank spiked 2.07 percent, China Life Insurance soared 3.03 percent, China Merchants Bank accelerated 2.82 percent, Ping An Insurance surged 3.99 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.77 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as tocks turned in a lackluster performance on Monday, although the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both reached new record closing highs.
The Dow added 11.06 points or 0.04 percent to 26,554.39, while the NASDAQ gained 15.46 points or 0.19 percent to 8,161.85 and the S&P 500 rose 3.15 points or 0.11 percent to 2,943.03.
Traders were reluctant to make large moves ahead of Wednesday's monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve. The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, though the accompanying statement and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's subsequent press conference will still draw interest.
In economic news, the Commerce Department reported a smaller than expected uptick in U.S. personal income in March, although the report also showed a significant increase in personal spending during the month.
Crude oil prices bounced higher Friday after early weakness following reports that a Russian oil supply to customers in Europe was deliberately tainted, artificially inflating the price. West Texas Intermediate advanced $0.77 or 1.23 percent to $63.26 per barrel, shrugging off an early move to the downside.
Closer to home, China will release April figures for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite indexes later this morning. The manufacturing PMI is expected to see a score of 50.6, up from 50.5 in March. The non-manufacturing index is called at 55.0, up from 54.8 in the previous month. The composite had a score of 54.0 in March.
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