China Bourse Likely To Give Up Support At 3,200 Points

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 90 points or 2.9 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,200-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is increasingly negative as the debt ceiling situation in the United States continues to drag on. The European and U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow suit.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Wednesday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, properties and resource stocks.

For the day, the index retreated 41.49 points or 1.28 percent to finish at 3,204.75 after trading between 3,204.38 and 3,237.70. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 9.24 points or 0.46 percent to end at 2,009.48.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tanked 3.45 percent, while Bank of China plunged 3.71 percent, China Construction Bank surrendered 3.08 percent, China Merchants Bank declined 1.99 percent, Bank of Communications tumbled 2.44 percent, China Life Insurance plummeted 4.48 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 1.18 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 2.58 percent, Yankuang Energy stumbled 1.47 percent, PetroChina skidded 1.77 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 2.25 percent, Huaneng Power dropped 1.61 percent, China Shenhua Energy weakened 1.85 percent, Gemdale crashed 3.44 percent, Poly Developments cratered 3.74 percent, China Vanke dove 2.82 percent and China Fortune Land lost 1.76 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests continued consolidation as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 255.59 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 32,799.92. while the NASDAQ sank 76.08 points or 0.61 percent to close at 12,484.16 and the S&P 500 dropped 30.34 points or 0.73 percent to end at 4,115.24.

Lingering concerns about lawmakers' ability to reach an agreement on increasing the U.S. debt ceiling continued to weigh on Wall Street.

While negotiations have continued this week, traders remain worried about reports suggesting a lack of progress towards a deal.

Traders were also digesting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's May monetary policy meeting, which indicated uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices moved higher Wednesday, rising for the third consecutive session on concerns over tightening supply after data showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July jumped $1.43 or 2 percent at $74.34 a barrel.