BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for the Qingming Festival, the China stock market had moved higher in back-to-back trading days, gathering more than 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,485-point plateau and it's looking at additional support on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, although the upside may be limited since they've already had the chance to respond to most of the catalysts, while plummeting oil proves may also cap the gains. Most European markets were closed and the U.S. bourses were sharply higher and the Asian markets also figure to open in the green.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the properties, weakness from the financials and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.
For the day, the index gained 18.06 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 3,484.39 after trading between 3,462.83 and 3,487.59. The Shenzhen Composite Index advanced 19.89 points or 0.89 percent to end at 2,262.08.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.45 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.60 percent, China Construction Bank tumbled 1.92 percent, China Merchants Bank fell 0.20 percent, Bank of Communications declined 142 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.22 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 4.05 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.52 percent, Yanzhou Coal dropped 0.89 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.47 percent, China Shenhua Energy slid 0.50 percent, Gemdale was up 0.08 percent, Poly Developments rose 0.35 percent, China Vanke increased 0.57 percent, Beijing Capital Development climbed 1.21 percent and PetroChina was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher and saw the gains accelerate at the session progressed.
The Dow climbed 373.98 points or 1.13 percent to finish at 33,527.19, while the NASDAQ jumped 225.49 points or 1.67 percent to end at 13,705.59 and the S&P 500 rallied 58.04 points or 1.44 percent to close at 4,077.91.
The rally on Wall Street came as traders finally had an opportunity to react to the much stronger than expected monthly jobs report, which was released while the markets were closed on Friday.
Stocks saw further upside when the Institute for Supply Management said its reading on activity in the service sector soared to an all-time high in March.
Crude oil prices sank sharply Monday, weighed down by the decision from major oil producers to increase production beginning in May. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May dropped $2.80 or 4.6 percent at $58.65 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see March results for the services and composite PMIs from Caixin later this morning; in February, their scores were 51.5 and 51.7, respectively.
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