BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, gathering more than 20 points or 0.6 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,440-point plateau although it's likely to run out of steam on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on concerns over the outlook for interest rates and stimulus. The European and U.S. markets were firmly lower and the Asian bourses are tipped to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties, weakness from the resource stocks and a mixed picture from the financial sector.
For the day, the index added 13.86 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 3,441.85 after trading between 3,384.70 and 3,448.10. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 8.03 points or 0.36 percent to end at 2,251.96.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.38 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.31 percent, China Construction Bank lost 0.43 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.11 percent, Bank of Communications rose 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 2.33 percent, Jiangxi Copper plummeted 5.16 percent, Yanzhou Coal plunged 3.58 percent, PetroChina fell 0.44 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 1.11 percent, China Shenhua Energy tumbled 2.10 percent, Poly Developments added 0.44 percent, China Vanke was up 0.29 percent, China Fortune Land spiked 2.50 percent, Beijing Capital Development accelerated 1.83 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) and Gemdale were unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the session.
The Dow plunged 473.66 points or 1.36 percent to finish at 34,269.16, while the NASDAQ dipped 12.43 points or 0.09 percent to end at 13,389.43 and the S&P 500 fell 36.33 points or 0.87 percent to close at 4,152.10.
The weakness on Wall Street reflected concerns about an acceleration in the rate of inflation and potential monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.
Adding to the inflation concerns, the Labor Department said the number of job openings reached a series high of 8.1 million on the last business day of March. The data led to worries that employers will have to raise wages to entice workers, which could prompt higher inflation.
Crude oil futures settled higher Tuesday following a report from OPEC that said demand is expected to rise by 5.95 million barrels per day or 6.6 percent this year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended up by $0.36 or 0.6 percent at $65.28 a barrel.
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