BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has climbed higher in consecutive trading days, gathering almost 100 points or 3.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,925-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed and flat, with profit taking expected following recent gains. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were slightly lower and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index spiked 73.59 points or 2.58 percent to finish at 2,925.72 after trading between 2,854.07 and 2,927.43. The Shenzhen Composite Index soared 55.00 points or 3.71 percent to end at 1,538.23.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 0.17 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.53 percent, China Construction Bank perked 0.27 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 1.96 percent, China life Insurance soared 2.31 percent, Ping An Insurance surged 3.29 percent, PetroChina gathered 0.85 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.38 percent, China Shenhua Energy climbed 1.04 percent, Gemdale accelerated 2.18 percent, Poly Developments advanced 1.09 percent, China Vanke was up 1.87 percent and CITIC Securities skyrocketed 5.03 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks failed to sustain an initial move to the upside Tuesday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing slightly lower.
The Dow shed 14.17 points or 0.05 percent to end at 26,048.51, while the NASDAQ lost 0.60 points or 0.01 percent to 7,822.57 and the S&P 500 fell 1.01 points or 0.03 percent to 2,885.72.
The initial strength on Wall Street reflected recent optimism for a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, with the central bank due to make its next monetary policy decision next week.
Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, inspiring traders to cash in on recent gains as they await further developments regarding the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
Crude oil futures ended little changed on Tuesday as traders appeared to be waiting for a clear picture to emerge from the OPEC meeting scheduled June 25 in Vienna. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for July ended at $53.27 a barrel, up a penny from Monday's close.
Closer to home, China will on Wednesday release May numbers for consumer and producer prices later this morning. Consumer prices are expected to rise 2.7 percent on year, up from 2.5 percent in April. Producer prices are tipped to gained 0.6 percent, slowing from 0.9 percent in the previous month.
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