BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Tuesday halted the two-day slide in which it had retreated more than 40 points or 1.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just shy of the 2,830-point plateau and it's expected to extend its gains on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on easing coronavirus concerns. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The SCI finished sharply higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares, property stocks and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index gained44.24 points or 1.59 percent to finish at 2,827.28 after trading between 2,789.43 and 2,827.30. The Shenzhen Composite Index soared 37.96 points or 2.22 percent to end at 1,745.42.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.39 percent, while Bank of China added 0.28 percent, China Construction Bank gained 0.63 percent, China Merchants Bank spiked 2.44 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.45 percent, Ping An Insurance climbed 1.27 percent, PetroChina increased 0.22 percent, China Shenhua Energy accelerated 2.02 percent, Gemdale soared 3.09 percent, Poly Developments surged 3.45 percent, China Vanke jumped 1.15 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday and picked up steam as the day progressed, sending the major averages to their best closing levels in a month.
The Dow jumped 558.99 points or 2.39 percent to finish at 23,949.76, while the NASDAQ surged 323.32 points or 3.95 percent to end at 8,515.74 and the S&P 500 spiked 84.43 points or 3.06 percent to 2,846.06.
The rally on Wall Street came as traders were heartened about signs of a flattening of the coronavirus curve after officials such as White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently expressed cautious optimism about the pandemic.
Encouraging exports data out of China has also helped ease fears of the pandemic resulting in a deep global recession. Optimism over the upcoming earnings season also provided a lift.
Crude oil prices plummeted Tuesday as mounting concerns about a drop in energy demand due to the virus pandemic outweighed planned output cuts from OPEC and its allies. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended down $2.30 or 10.3 percent at $20.11 a barrel.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX