China Bourse May Run Out Of Steam On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has risen in four straight sessions, collecting more than 65 points or 2.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just shy of the 3,270-point plateau although the rally may stall on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation ahead of rate decisions this week from central banks in England and the United States. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were firmly in the red and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. Returning from the long Lunar New Year break, the SCI finished slightly higher following mixed performances from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies. For the day, the index perked 4.50 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 3,269.32 after trading between 3,266.76 and 3,310.49. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dipped 0.23 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.31 percent, China Merchants Bank rallied 2.39 percent, Bank of Communications perked 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance plunged 3.60 percent, Jiangxi Copper skidded 1.02 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) climbed 1.15 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 5.83 percent, PetroChina added 0.39 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) shed 0.44 percent, Huaneng Power tumbled 2.05 percent, China Shenhua Energy tanked 2.26 percent, Gemdale slumped 2.81 percent, Poly Developments retreated 1.77 percent, China Vanke declined 2.64 percent, China Fortune Land surged 4.30 percent, Beijing Capital Development soared 3.55 percent and China Construction Bank was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, finishing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 260.99 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 33,717.09, while the NASDAQ tumbled 227.90 points or 1.96 percent to close at 11,393.81 and the S&P 500 dropped 52.79 points or 1.30 percent to end at 4,017.77.

The weakness on Wall Street came as investors looked to lock in gains following recent strength in the markets, and also to consolidate positions ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 25 basis points. Traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Recent upbeat economic data has generated some optimism the Fed could engineer a soft landing but has also led to concerns the central bank will need to keep rates at elevated levels for longer than anticipated.

Oil prices fell to near three-week lows on Monday amid concerns about global economic growth and the outlook for oil demand following Russia's decision to allow its energy companies to determine their own pricing and exports. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March dropped $1.78 or 2.2 percent at $77.90 a barrel.