BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 120 points or 4.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,750-point plateau although it has a positive lead for Tuesday's trade.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with bargain hunting likely to follow the heavy selling seen in recent sessions, The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the oil and insurance companies, while the financials and properties came in mixed.
For the day, the index dropped 24.99 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 2,747.21 after trading between 2,723.05 and 2,758.81. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 35.80 points or 2.11 percent to end at 1,657.55.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.19 percent, while China Merchants Bank eased 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.04 percent, Ping An Insurance dropped 0.82 percent, PetroChina retreated 2.53 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.45 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 1.91 percent, Gemdale climbed 1.36 percent, Poly Developments lost 0.33 percent, China Vanke sank 1.99 percent and Bank of China and China Construction Bank were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as stocks moved steadily higher on Monday, offsetting Friday's losses while extending last week's overall gains.
The Dow jumped 690.17 points or 3.19 percent to finish at 22,327.48, while the NASDAQ climbed 271.77 points or 3.62 percent to end at 7,774.15 and the S&P 500 gained 85.18 points or 3.35 percent to 2,626.65.
The strength on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump extended national social distancing guidelines until April 30 instead of April 12. Public health experts had warned that reopening the country too early risked making the coronavirus outbreak even worse.
The coronavirus is likely to remain the primary focus, although the Labor Department's monthly jobs report on Friday is still likely to attract attention. Economists currently expect the report to show a loss of about 148,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate jumping to 3.9 percent from 3.5 percent.
Crude oil prices plunged sharply on Monday to their lowest close in 18 years on rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand due to the coronavirus. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down $1.42 or 6.6 percent at $20.09 a barrel, the lowest settlement since February 2002.
Closer to home, China will on Tuesday see March results for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite PMIs later this morning. The manufacturing PMI is expected to see a score of 45.0, up from 35.7 in February. The non-manufacturing PMI is pegged at 42.0, up from 29.6.
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