BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Monday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had climbed more than 70 points or 2.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,400-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the red again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on growth concerns as the number of coronavirus cases around the world continues to rise. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and insurance companies.
For the day, the index slid 8.13 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 3,395.68 after trading between 3,395.47 and 3,442.74. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 10.13 points or 0.44 percent to end at 2,295.49.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.80 percent, while Bank of China lost 0.61 percent, China Construction Bank eased 0.16 percent, China Merchants Bank tumbled 1.98 percent, Bank of Communications dropped 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.43 percent, Ping An Insurance retreated 1.63 percent, PetroChina fell 0.45 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 1.96 percent, Gemdale plummeted 4.21 percent, Poly Developments plunged 2.25 percent, China Vanke declined 1.09 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mostly soft as the Dow and S&P 500 opened lower on Monday and finished in the red, while the NASDAQ maintained a positive bias throughout the session.
The Dow dropped 223.82 points or 0.78 percent to finish at 28,430.05, while the NASDAQ gained 79.82 points or 0.68 percent to end at 11,775.46 and the S&P 500 fell 7.70 points or 0.22 percent to close at 3,500.31.
The weakness on the Dow came as the index welcomed three new stocks: Honeywell (HON), Salesforce (CTM) and Amgen (AMGN). It also cut loose three others: ExxonMobil (XOM), Pfizer (PFE) and Raytheon (RTN).
Apple (APPL) stocks jumped on Monday as stock splits went into effect for that company and for Tesla.
Growth concerns persist as coronavirus deaths in the U.S. have topped 183,000. That's prompted reports that the Food and Drug Administration may be willing to bypass the normal approval process to authorize a vaccine before Phase 3 trials are completed.
Crude oil futures retreated after early gains and settled lower Monday amid uncertainty about the outlook for energy demand as coronavirus cases continue to rise. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $0.36 or 0.8 percent at $42.61 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see August results for the manufacturing PMI from Caixin later this morning, with forecasts suggesting a score of 52.7 - down marginally from 52.8 in July.
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