BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market on Tuesday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 40 points or 1.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,630-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support from oil stocks tempered by weakness from technology shares. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as losses from the energy companies were tempered by support from the properties.
For the day, the index fell 7.45 points or 0.20 percent to finish at 3,632.33 after trading between 3,610.09 and 3,651.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 2.44 points or 0.10 percent to end at 2,527.70.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 0.86 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.66 percent, China Construction Bank improved 0.85 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.74 percent, Bank of Communications and Jiangxi Copper both rose 0.22 percent, China Life Insurance added 0.73 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) fell 0.33 percent, Yankuang Power jumped 1.87 percent, PetroChina gained 0.61 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.71 percent, Huaneng Power plummeted 7.12 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 0.93 percent, Gemdale soared 4.39 percent, Poly Developments accelerated 1.09 percent and China Vanke spiked 3.69 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the Dow opened higher and stayed that way, the NASDAQ opened lower and stayed that way and the S&P opened higher but fell into the red.
The Dow spiked 214.59 points or 0.59 percent to a record 36,799.65, while the NASDAQ tumbled 210.08 points or 1.33 percent to close at 15,622.72 and the S&P 500 eased 3.02 points or 0.06 percent to end at 4,793.54.
The sharp pullback by NASDAQ reflected substantial weakness among software and biotechnology stocks, while financials fueled the Dow.
The continued advance by the Dow also came as traders remain optimistic about the economic outlook even as the U.S. reported more than 1 million new Covid cases on Monday. Indications the new Omicron variant causes milder symptoms has led to hopes the recent surge could actually help to accelerate the end of the pandemic.
Crude oil prices climbed higher on Tuesday after OPEC said it would stick to its plan to raise monthly crude production by 400,000 barrels per day in February. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for February ended higher by $0.91 or 1.2 percent at $76.99 a barrel.
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