BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sinking almost 25 points or 0.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,890-point plateau and it may extend its losses again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology and oil stocks expected to fall under considerable pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the oil companies and property stocks, while the financials offered support.
For the day, the index fell 8.62 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 2,890.08 after trading between 2,875.90 and 2,920.83. The Shenzhen Composite Index skidded 15.97 points or 1.04 percent to end at 1,515.89.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.60 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.43 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.56 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.34 percent, Ping An Insurance rose 0.32 percent, PetroChina shed 0.28 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was up 0.18 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 0.92 percent, Gemdale lost 0.69 percent, Poly Development was up 0.16 percent, China Vanke sank 0.97 percent, CITIC Securities gained 0.30 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is ominous thanks to a steep drop from the tech-heavy NASDAQ - while the Dow and the S&P were mixed and little changed.
The Dow added 4.74 points or 0.02 percent to 24,819.78, while the NASDAQ plummeted 120.13 points or 1.61 percent to 7,333.02 and the S&P 500 fell 7.61 points or 0.28 percent to 2,744.45.
The steep drop by the NASDAQ came as tech stocks came under pressure following reports of antitrust investigations involving several big-name companies like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL).
Trade concerns also continued to weigh on the markets after an official document from the Chinese government blamed the U.S. for the escalating trade dispute between the world's two largest economies.
The escalating global trade tensions led St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard to suggest a reduction in interest rates 'may be warranted soon.'
In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said the pace of growth in manufacturing activity unexpectedly saw a continued slowdown in May.
Crude oil futures ended lower Monday, extending losses to a fourth straight session amid continued worries about energy demand due to fears of global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures for July ended down $0.25 or 0.5 percent at $53.25 a barrel.
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