China Shares May Find Traction On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, sliding more than 80 points or 2.7 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just shy of the 2,890-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and falling bond yields. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the properties and resource stocks, while the financial shares were mixed.

For the day, the index retreated 41.65 points or 1.42 percent to finish at the daily low of 2,887.54 after trading as high as 2,924.46. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 33.34 points or 1.88 percent to end at 1,740.08.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.21 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.49 percent, China Construction Bank rose 0.15 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.57 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.34 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 2.09 percent, Jiangxi Copper perked 0.17 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.96 percent, PetroChina dipped 0.27 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) dropped 0.89 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 1.20 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.60 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.84 percent, Poly Developments declined 1.20 percent, China Vanke stumbled 1.70 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) as unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened mixed on Monday but trended steadily upward as the day progressed and finished solidly in the green.

The Dow climbed 216.90 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 37,683.01, while the NASDAQ surged 319.70 points or 2.20 percent to end at 14,843.77 and the S&P 500 rallied 66.30 points or 1.41 percent to close at 4,763.54.

A drop in bond yields, and optimism about the outlook for stocks despite recent uncertainty about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts helped push stock prices up.

The Dow was weighed down by Boeing shares, which fell 8 percent after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to ground dozens of the company's 737 Max 9 aircraft after a door plug blew out in the middle of an Alaska Airlines flight on Friday.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as Saudi Arabia's decision to cut prices offset concerns about an escalation in the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February ended down $3.04 or 4.4 percent at $70.77 a barrel.