BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, collecting more than 40 points or 1.4 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,850-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft with energy stocks expected to weigh after crude oil futures went negative for the first time ever. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the insurance companies and mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and energy shares.
For the day, the index gained 14.06 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 2,852.55 after trading between 2,833.26 and 2,852.99. The Shenzhen Composite Index advanced 17.58 points or 1.00 percent to finish at 1,767.86.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.58 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.84 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.63 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.12 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.43 percent, Ping An Insurance jumped 1.52 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.10 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.69 percent, Gemdale tumbled 1.67 percent, Poly Developments rose 0.38 percent, China Vanke fell 0.52 percent and PetroChina was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the session.
The Dow shed 592.05 points or 2.44 percent to 23,650.44, while the NASDAQ dropped 89.41 points or 1.03 percent to 8,560.73 and the S&P 500 sank 51.40 points or 1.79 percent to 2,823.16.
The weakness on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on last week's gains amid lingering concerns about the economic impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
An historic drop by the price of crude oil also weighed on the markets, with a crude futures contract turning negative for the first time ever.
The front month contract settled at -$37.63 a barrel, as against Friday's settlement price of $18.27 a barrel. The previous low for a front-month contract was $9.75, way back in April 1986.
The tumble was due to rising concerns about the excess supply in the oil market and the lack of storage facility, and mounting fears about the outlook for energy demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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