BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Tuesday wrote a finish to the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 60 points or 2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,220-point plateau although it's expected to head south again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed coronavirus concerns and the resulting slide in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials, insurance companies and properties.
For the day, the index added 6.82 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,224.36 after trading between 3,219.79 and 3,242.79. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 21.57 points or 1.01 percent to end at 2,148.46.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.61 percent, while Bank of China skidded 1.23 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 0.81 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.52 percent, Bank of Communications lost 0.44 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.18 percent, Ping An Insurance retreated 1.48 percent, PetroChina fell 0.24 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.42 percent, Gemdale slid 0.61 percent, Poly Developments dipped 0.50 percent, China Vanke was down 0.39 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) and Beijing Capital Development were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as stocks opened lower on Tuesday and saw the losses accelerate as the day progressed to end in the red, snapping a three-day winning streak.
The Dow shed 131.40 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 27,452.66, while the NASDAQ fell 32.28 points or 0.29 percent to end at 11,085.25 and the S&P 500 fell 15.13 points or 0.48 percent to close at 3,335.47.
Although stocks moved off the day's lows, the mood remained cautious as investors looked ahead to the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden later today.
Lingering worries about the spread of coronavirus infections and fears of fresh lockdown measures weighed on the markets. Comments by Fed officials that the economy might take longer than expected to recover also affected the markets.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday as worries about energy demand resurfaced after reports of a surge in new coronavirus cases. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November fell $1.31 or 3.2 percent at $39.29 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see September results for the manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes from the NBS later this morning; in August, their scores were 51.0 and 55.2, respectively. China also will see September results for the manufacturing PMI from Caixin, which is expected to hold steady at 53.1.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX