(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had risen almost 40 points or 1.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 2,955-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild consolidation ahead of the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were slightly lower and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.
The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financials, properties and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index lost 25.87 points or 0.87 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,954.18 after peaking at 2,979.04. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 15.56 points or 0.94 percent to end at 1,642.68.
Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.34 percent, while Bank of China lost 0.54 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 0.82 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.14 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.15 percent, Ping An Insurance fell 0.50 percent, PetroChina sank 0.66 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slid 0.40 percent, China Shenhua Energy advanced 0.82 percent, Gemdale retreated 1.26 percent, Poly Developments plunged 1.41 percent, China Vanke was down 0.78 percent and CITIC Securities plummeted 2.15 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as stocks showed a lack of direction on Tuesday, as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Fed's rate decision and statement.
The Dow shed 19.26 points or 0.07 percent to end at 27,071.46, while the NASDAQ lost 49.13 points or 0.59 percent to 8,276.85 and the S&P 500 fell 2.53 points or 0.08 percent to 3,036.89.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a wait-and-see approach even though the Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates by another quarter point.
Some negative sentiment was generated by reports suggesting a phase one trade deal between the U.S. and China may not be signed by the summit in Chile next month.
A mixed reaction to the latest batch of earnings news also contributed to the lackluster performance, with a notable drop by Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) weighing on the tech-heavy NASDAQ.
In economic news, the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence unexpectedly edged lower in October. Also, the National Association of Realtors showed another significant increase in pending home sales in the U.S. in September.
Crude oil futures edged lower on Tuesday amid expectations that data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) will show a jump in crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December fell $0.27 or 0.5 percent at $55.54 a barrel, the lowest settlement in a week.
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