BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering almost 105 points or 3.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,315-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on tech shares, stimulus hopes and optimism for a coronavirus vaccine. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished sharply higher on Monday with gains across the board - especially from the financials, properties and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index surged 100.02 points or 3.11 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,314.15 after trading as low as 3,220.68. The Shenzhen Composite Index spiked 7.77 points or 2.68 percent to end at 2,216.70.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China climbed 1.38 percent, while Bank of China advanced 1.47 percent, China Construction Bank jumped 1.75 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 3.30 percent, China Life Insurance skyrocketed 9.99 percent, Ping An Insurance surged 6.13 percent, PetroChina perked 2.28 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) accelerated 1.76 percent, Baoshan Iron soared 5.93 percent, Gemdale added 4.17 percent, Poly Developments increased 4.98 percent and China Vanke gained 3.93 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is generally positive as stocks ended in the green, although the Dow spent much of the day in the red until breaking through late in the day.
The Dow added 8.92 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 26,680.87, while the NASDAQ surged 263.90 points or 2.51 percent to end at 10,767.09 and the S&P 500 gained 27.11 points or 0.84 percent to close at 3,251.84.
The spike by the NASDAQ came as traders got back into big-name tech stocks after the index slumped last week - with support from the likes of Amazon (AMZN), software giant Microsoft (MSFT), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and tech giant Apple (AAPL).
The strength on Wall Street also came following positive results from trials of experimental COVID-19 vaccines by Oxford University and AstraZeneca (AZN) and Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX).
The positive news on the vaccine front came as some states continue to see spikes in coronavirus cases, with Florida reporting 12,523 new cases on Saturday, reflecting the fifth consecutive day the state reported more than new 10,000 infections.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Monday as worries about the energy demand outlook faded slightly on optimism for a potential coronavirus vaccine. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended higher by $0.22 or 0.5 percent at $40.81 a barrel.
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