China Bourse May Spin Its Wheels On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 50 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just shy of the 3,915-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected after recent strength. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday as gains from the financial shares and resource stocks were limited by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index added 25.41 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 3,914.01 after trading between 3,890.95 and 3,914.46. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 25.12 points or 1.02 percent to end at 2,478.93.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.25 percent, while Agricultural Bank of China shed 0.62 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.14 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.39 percent, Jiangxi Copper skyrocketed 9.16 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) jumped 1.71 percent, Yankuang Energy added 0.50 percent, PetroChina rallied 2.15 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 1.21 percent, Huaneng Power vaulted 1.67 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.49 percent, Gemdale plunged 3.17 percent, Poly Developments stumbled 2.07 percent, China Vanke cratered 3.35 percent and Bank of Communications and Bank of China were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 427.09 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 47,289.33, while the NASDAQ sank 89.76 points or 0.38 percent to close at 23,275.92 and the S&P 500 lost 36.46 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,812.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on last week's rally, which saw the major averages stage a significant recovery from the sharp pullback seen in November.

The major averages had closed higher for five consecutive sessions last week, clawing their way back toward record highs.

Stocks had recently benefited from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. However, the release of key U.S. economic data in the coming days could impact Fed officials' thinking.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. dollar came under pressure amid rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.75 or 1.28 percent at $59.30 per barrel.