BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market headed south again on Tuesday, one day after it had snapped the two-day losing streak in which it had fallen more than 35 points or 1.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,810-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, thanks to mild profit taking and another tumble in crude oil prices. 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 slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the oil companies, gains from the properties and insurance stocks and a mixed picture from the financials.
For the day, the index eased 5.47 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 2,810.02 after trading between 2,758.25 and 2,821.75. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 5.48 points or 0.32 percent to end at 1,732.56.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.39 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.29 percent, China Construction Bank rose 0.16 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.83 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.36 percent, Ping An Insurance jumped 1.66 percent, PetroChina plunged 2.02 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tumbled 1.77 percent, Baoshan Iron and Steel sank 1.66 percent, Poly Developments perked 1.51 percent, China Vanke spiked 1.97 percent and Gemdale was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened higher on Tuesday but faded as the day progressed and finished in the red.
The Dow eased 32.23 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 24,101.55, while the NASDAQ tumbled 122.43 points or 1.40 percent to 8,607.73 and the S&P 500 fell 15.09 points or 0.52 percent to end at 2,863.39.
The initial strength on Wall Street partly reflected continued optimism that the U.S. is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of the coronavirus pandemic. A number of have already started reopening, while other states like New York have announced plans to do so in the coming weeks.
Buying interest waned shortly after the start of trading, however, inspiring some traders to cash in on recent strength in the markets.
The choppy trading also came as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at near-zero levels, although the central bank could provide additional guidance regarding how long it plans to keep rates at their current levels.
Crude oil prices plunged sharply Tuesday as concerns about outlook for global energy demand, excess supply in the global market and a lack of storage continued to weigh on the commodity. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended down $0.44 or 3.4 percent at $12.34 a barrel.
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