BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after it had ended the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen almost 130 points or 4.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,970-point plateau and it may take further damage on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative thanks to ongoing concerns about the effect of the coronavirus on the world economy. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index sank 28.24 points or 0.94 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,968.52 after peaking at 3,010.03. The Shenzhen Composite Index declined 27.94 points or 1.48 percent to end at 1,859.40.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.75 percent, while China Construction Bank eased 0.15 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.66 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.98 percent, Ping An Insurance skidded 1.30 percent, PetroChina fell 0.58 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tumbled 1.45 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.79 percent, Gemdale slid 0.47 percent, Poly Developments gave away 0.85 percent, China Vanke was down 1.36 percent and Bank of China was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks gap opened sharply lower on Wednesday and moved lower still as the day progressed - offsetting gains from the previous session.
The Dow plummeted 1,464.94 points or 5.86 percent to finish at 23,553.22, while the NASDAQ tumbled 392.20 points or 4.70 percent to 7,952.05 and the S&P 500 plunged 140.85 points or 4.89 percent to 2,741.85.
The pullback on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on Tuesday's gains amid lingering concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Total confirmed cases have climbed above 121,000 worldwide, while the total number of deaths is closing in on 4,400.
Traders seem to be expressing continued uncertainty about whether expected stimulus measures will be adequate to soften the economic blow from the outbreak.
Crude oil prices moved higher in early trading on Wednesday before reversing course and heading south again as the day progressed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for April tumbled $2.00 or 5.76 percent to $32.69 a barrel on Wednesday - wiping out the gains from the previous session.
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