China Bourse Poised To End Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, sliding more than a dozen points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,290-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on optimism ahead of earnings season. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, resource stocks and oil companies.

For the day, the index eased 1.76 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 3,286.65 after trading between 3,277.63 and 3,294.98. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 4.52 points or 0.24 percent to end at 1,902.27.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 0.27 percent, while Bank of China eased 0.18 percent, Agricultural Bank of China was down 0.36 percent, China Merchants Bank and Huaneng Power both sank 0.83 percent, Bank of Communications slumped 0.53 percent, China Life Insurance dipped 0.44 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.51 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dropped 0.93 percent, Yankuang Energy fell 0.24 percent, PetroChina skidded 1.00 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) retreated 1.40 percent, China Shenhua Energy improved 0.71 percent, Gemdale shed 0.69 percent, Poly Developments rose 0.24 percent and China Vanke slipped 0.29 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended steadily upward throughout the session to finish with solid gains.

The Dow rallied 300.03 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 40,527.62, while the NASDAQ advanced 95.19 points or 0.55 percent to close at 17,461.32 and the S&P 500 gained 32.08 points or 0.58 percent to end at 5,560.83.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came amid positive developments on the trade front, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick telling CNBC the Trump administration had reached its first trade deal.

Earlier in the day, traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key earnings and economic news in the coming days.

Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Visa (V), Eli Lilly (LLY), Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) are all due to report earnings this week.

Crude oil futures moved sharply on Tuesday amid ongoing concerns that a weakening U.S. economy and the U.S.-led trade war with partners will hurt energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery plunged $1.63 or 2.6 percent to $60.42 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see April results for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite PMIs from the National Bureau of Statistics later this morning; in March, their scores were 50.5, 50.8 and 51.4, respectively.