BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - The China stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, sinking almost 60 points or 1.7 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,430-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, although crude oil prices may limit the downside. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses figure to open in similar fashion.
The SCI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.
For the day, the index dropped 34.07 points or 0.98 percent to finish at 3,428.88 after trading between 3,415.45 and 3,457.26. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 9.83 points or 0.43 percent to end at 2,253.13.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China retreated 1.44 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.63 percent, China Construction Bank declined 1.73 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.96 percent, Bank of Communications surrendered 1.80 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 2.53 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.67 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.46 percent, Yankuang Energy dropped 1.07 percent, PetroChina added 0.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 1.33 percent, Huaneng Power plummeted 6.00 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 1.30 percent, Gemdale plunged 5.17 percent, Poly Developments stumbled 2.79 percent, China Vanke cratered 4.44 percent and China Fortune Land lost 2.67 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Monday and spent most of the day in the red before ending modestly lower.
The Dow tumbled 171.89 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 34,566.17, while the NASDAQ eased 0.24 points or 0.00 percent to close at 13,790.92 and the S&P 500 fell 16.97 points or 0.38 percent to end at 4,401.67.
The continued weakness on Wall Street came as traders kept a close eye on developments regarding the tensions between Ukraine and Russia. President Joe Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend but there was little progress in defusing the situation.
Traders also remained wary about the outlook for monetary policy following mixed remarks by Federal Reserve officials, with interest rates expected to rise as soon as next month.
Crude oil prices rose sharply on Monday on rising concerns that Russia could attack Ukraine in the near future. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended higher by $2.36 or 2.5 percent at $95.46 a barrel, the highest settlement since September 2014.
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