China Bourse Tipped To Halt Its Slide

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, dropping more than 75 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,385-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with strong support expected from the technology companies. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead. The SCI finished slightly lower on Monday as losses from the properties were offset by support from the financial shares and a mixed picture from the energy companies. For the day, the index dipped 5.55 points or 0.16 percent to finish at 3,386.33 after trading between 3,376.54 and 3,401.93. The Shenzhen Composite Index slumped 21.33 points or 1.03 percent to end at 2,049.10. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 2.19 percent, while Bank of China gained 1.54 percent, China Construction Bank accelerated 1.81 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.18 percent, Agricultural Bank of China jumped 2.20 percent, China Life Insurance surrendered 1.90 percent, Jiangxi Copper retreated 1.36 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 1.97 percent, Yankuang Energy eased 0.14 percent, PetroChina spiked 2.05 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) strengthened 1.42 percent, Huaneng Power and China Shenhua Energy both rallied 2.00 percent, Gemdale plummeted 4.45 percent, Poly Developments plunged 3.46 percent and China Vanke stumbled 2.14 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and finished largely the same way.

The Dow shed 110.58 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 43,717.48, while the NASDAQ surged 247.17 points or 1.24 percent to close at a record 20,173.89 and the S&P 500 advanced 22.99 points or 0.38 percent to end at 6,074.08.

The general strength on Wall Street reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to continue cutting interest rates, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 99.1 percent chance the central bank will lower rates by another 25 basis points.

The surge by the NASDAQ came amid significant strength among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumping by 2.1 percent. Networking stocks also saw considerable strength, extending a recent upward trend, driving the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 2.0 percent to a new record closing high.

Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as recent data showing inflation remains somewhat sticky has led to some worries the Fed will lower rates slower than previously anticipated next year.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing a sharp pullback by its reading on regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.

Crude oil prices fell on Monday amid concerns about the outlook for demand after weak economic data from China and the threat of tariffs. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.58 at $70.71 a barrel.