BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, gathering almost 100 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,000-point plateau although investors figure to cash in on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly soft on renewed uncertainty about a trade deal between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets finished in the red and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.
The SCI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and energy producers.
For the day, the index advanced 34.23 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 3,007.88 after trading between 2,989.81 and 3,026.38. The Shenzhen Composite Index soared 23.37 points or 1.43 percent to end at 1,660.33.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.42 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.82 percent, China Construction Bank advanced 1.25 percent, China Merchants Bank perked 1.49 percent, China Life Insurance accelerated 2.15 percent, Ping An Insurance added 0.61 percent, PetroChina eased 0.16 percent, China Shenhua Energy was up 0.11 percent, Gemdale jumped 1.71 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.70 percent, China Vanke gained 1.16 percent, CITIC Securities rose 0.65 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as stocks showed a lack of direction on Monday, bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before ending slightly lower.
The Dow shed 29.23 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 26,787.36, while the NASDAQ lost 8.39 points or 0.10 percent to 8,048.65 and the S&P 500 fell 4.12 points or 0.14 percent to 2,966.15.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came amid light volume due to the Columbus Day holiday as well as renewed uncertainty about a trade deal with China as reports suggest China wants another round of talks before signing the agreement.
Traders are also adopting a wait-and-see attitude ahead of earnings season, which kicks off this week.
Crude oil futures drifted lower Monday on weak data out of China and Brexit concerns weighed on the outlook for energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for November ended down $1.11 or 2 percent at $53.59 a barrel.
Closer to home, China is scheduled to release September figures for consumer and producer prices. Consumer prices are expected to rise 2.9 percent on year, up from 2.8 percent in August. Producer prices are called lower by an annual 1.2 percent after easing 0.8 percent on the previous month.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX