BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after it had ended the three-day slide in which it had stumbled almost a dozen points or 0.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,440-point plateau and it's expected to bounce higher again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mostly positive on optimism for earnings - especially tech shares - although coronavirus concerns in India may cap the upside. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financial shares and property stocks were mitigated by support from the resource companies.
For the day, the index dropped 33.00 points or 095 percent to finish at 3,441.17 after trading between 3,438.57 and 3,497.12. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 17.24 points or 0.75 percent to end at 2,281.30.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.38 percent, Bank of China lost 0.61 percent, China Construction Bank sank 0.71 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.31 percent, Bank of Communications skidded 1.22 percent, China Minsheng Bank slid 0.82 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 3.36 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 3.32 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) spiked 2.34 percent, Yanzhou Coal jumped 1.60 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) fell 0.47 percent, China Shenhua Energy retreated 1.59 percent, Gemdale declined 0.59 percent, Poly Developments dropped 0.85 percent, China Vanke was down 1.39 percent and PetroChina was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened in the green on Monday although the Dow was unable to hold its gains at the end of the day.
The Dow slipped 61.92 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 33,981.57, while the NASDAQ jumped 121.97 points or 0.87 percent to end at 14,138.78 and the S&P 500 rose 7.45 points or 0.18 percent to close at 4,187.62.
Tech stocks led the markets higher amid optimism ahead of the release of quarterly results from a number of big-name companies later this week.
Buying interest was subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy, but traders will be paying close attention to any changes to the accompanying statement that may signal a shift in the near future.
In economic news, the Commerce Department said new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods increased by less than expected in March.
Crude oil prices drifted lower on Monday amid continues worries about the outlook for energy demand due to rising coronavirus cases in India. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended lower by $0.23 or 0.4 percent at $61.91 a barrel.
Closer to home, China will see March data for industrial profits later today; in February, profits skyrocketed an annual 178.9 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
