BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has ticked higher in two straight sessions, collecting more than a dozen points or 0.4 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,885-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over the trade dispute between the United States and China. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are also tipped to open in the red.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the insurance companies and mixed performances from the financials, properties and oil stocks.
For the day, the index rose 8.89 points or 0.31 percent to finish at 2,884.70 after trading between 2,857.32 and 2,884.86. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 8.73 points or 0.55 percent to end at 1,605.33.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.34 percent, while Bank of China lost 0.28 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.42 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.97 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.04 percent, Ping An Insurance jumped 1.18 percent, PetroChina added 0.36 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.40 percent, Baoshan Iron skidded 1.28 percent, Gemdale gained 0.40 percent, China Vanke eased 0.18 percent and Poly Developments was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks opened sharply lower on Tuesday, regained some ground but still finished firmly in the red.
The Dow shed 280.23 points or 1.01 percent to 27,502.81, while the NASDAQ lost 47.34 points or 0.55 percent to 8,520.64 and the S&P 500 fell 20.67 points or 0.66 percent to 3,093.20.
The early sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed trade concerns after President Donald Trump suggested he might prefer to wait until after the 2020 elections to strike a trade deal with China.
The comments from the president added to rising trade concerns after his administration threatened to impose duties of up to 100 percent on $2.4 billion in French imports, including champagne and handbags.
After recovering from an early move to the downside, the price of crude oil fluctuated over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. Crude oil for January delivery eventually ended the day up $0.14 or 0.3 percent at $56.10 after falling as low as $55.35 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see November numbers for the services and composite indexes from Caixin later this morning; in October, their scores were 51.1 and 52.0, respectively.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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