BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved higher in three consecutive trading days, gathering more than 35 points or 1.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,915-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over trade between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished barely higher on Monday following gains from the properties, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the energy producers.
For the day, the index gathered 2.47 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 2,914.48 after trading between 2,905.25 and 2,919.59. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.18 points to end at 1,640.51.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China eased 0.17 percent, while China Construction Bank shed 0.70 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.38 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.58 percent, Ping An Insurance skidded 1.29 percent, PetroChina rose 0.18 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.61 percent, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.86 percent, Gemdale surged 4.61 percent, Poly Developments soared 3.74 percent, China Vanke accelerated 1.11 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as stocks showed a lack of direction early on Monday and then faded into the red, snapping a three-day winning streak.
The Dow shed 105.46 points or 0.38 percent to 27,909.60, while the NASDAQ lost 34.70 points or 0.40 percent to 8,621.83 and the S&P 500 fell 9.95 points or 0.32 percent to 3.135.0.32.
The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came on lingering uncertainty about U.S.-China trade talks, with new 15 percent tariffs on $165 billion in Chinese imports set to take effect this Sunday.
Rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea also led to some caution among traders after North Korea conducted a 'very important test' at a long-range missile launch site.
Overall trading activity was subdued, with traders looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, although traders will look to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.
Crude oil prices edged lower on Monday amid concerns over the outlook for energy demand on uncertainty about the U.S. and China signing a trade deal. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $0.18 or 0.3 percent at $59.02 a barrel.
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