BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has ended lower in four straight sessions, surrendering more than 210 points or 6.3 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite index now sits just beneath the 3,360-point plateau although it's expected to find traction on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to soar on falling treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are predicted to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares and property stocks, while the resource and energy companies were mixed.
For the day, the index plunged 62.12 points or 1.83 percent to finish at 3,359.29 after trading between 3,328.31 and 3,429.15. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 63.17 points or 2.84 percent to end at 2,160.91.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.27 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.61 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.63 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.86 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.09 percent, Jiangxi Copper jumped 1.95 percent, Yanzhou Coal lost 0.60 percent, PetroChina sank 0.89 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 0.88 percent, Anhui Conch Cement declined 1.14 percent, Huaneng Power surrendered 2.51 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.61 percent, Gemdale added 0.49 percent, Poly Developments fell 0.79 percent, China Vanke slid 0.58 percent, China Fortune Land plummeted 6.13 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday - especially the tech-heavy NASDAQ - and remained that way throughout the session.
The Dow rose 29.71 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 31,832.15, while the NASDAQ surged 464.66 points or 3.69 percent to close at 13,073.82 and the S&P 500 jumped 54.09 points or 1.42 percent to end at 3,875.44.
The rebound by the NASDAQ comes as technology stocks saw significant strength amid a pullback by treasury yields. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note has shown a notable move to the downside after ending the previous session at its highest closing level in over a year.
The subsequent pullback shown by yields inspired traders to pick up tech stocks at reduced levels despite lingering concerns about inflation and the outlook for interest rates.
Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) saw a significant rebound after closing lower for five straight sessions, while tech giants Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) also posted strong gains.
Crude oil futures failed to hold early gains and settled lower on Tuesday, extending losses from previous session. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April ended down $1.04 or 1.6 percent at $64.01 a barrel after rising to a high of $65.98 a barrel earlier in the day.
Closer to home, China will release February figures for consumer and producer prices later this morning. Overall inflation is expected to rise 0.4 percent on month and fall 0.4 percent on year after gaining 1.0 percent on month and sinking 0.3 percent on year in January. Producer prices are tipped to advance 1.5 percent on year after gaining 0.3 percent in the previous month.
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