(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 100 points or 2.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,210-point plateau and it's expected to open under water again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on surging oil prices and weakness among technology stocks. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets also figure to open to the downside.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following weakness from the financials and mixed performances from the resource, energy and property sectors.
For the day, the index slipped 10.53 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 4,214.49 after trading between 4,199.34 and 4,230.18. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 18.39 points or 0.63 percent to end at 2,903.98.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.13 percent, while Bank of China was down 0.07 percent, Agricultural Bank of China lost 0.44 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.18 percent, China Life Insurance slumped 1.02 percent, Jiangxi Copper jumped 1.80 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sank 0.85 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.73 percent, PetroChina improved 0.72 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) skidded 1.02 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.07 percent, Gemdale retreated 1.27 percent, Poly Developments fell 0.30 percent, China Vanke rose 0.24 percent and Bank of Communications was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower but trended higher as the session progressed, with the Dow finally peaking into positive territory by the day's end.
The Dow rose 56.09 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 49,760.56, while the NASDAQ sank 185.92 points or 0.71 percent to end at 26,088.20 and the S&P 500 dipped 11.88 points or 0.16 percent to close at 7,400.96.
An extended surge by the price of crude oil contributed to the early sell-off on Wall Street, with U.S. crude oil futures soaring by more than 4 percent and jumping back above $100 a barrel.
The continued increase by the price of crude oil comes as the U.S. and Iran struggle to reach an agreement to end the war and reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.
The weakness on Wall Street also came following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing the fastest annual rate of consumer price growth since May 2023 - making any rate cuts in the near future extremely unlikely.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
