China Shares: Support Expected At 4,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, tumbling more than 140 points or 3.8 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,015-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on decent economic data, although weakness among the oil stocks may limit the upside. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board, especially among the resource, energy and property sectors.

For the day, the index plunged 102.20 points or 2.48 percent to finish at 4,015.75 after trading between 4,013.66 and 4,103.41. The Shenzhen Composite Index tanked 68.30 points or 2.54 percent to end at 2,615.43.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China advanced 0.97 percent, while Bank of China improved 0.93 percent, Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.89 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.57 percent, Bank of Communications added 0.45 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 2.78 percent, Jiangxi Copper and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) both plummeted by the 10 percent daily limit, Yankuang Energy plunged 5.53 percent, PetroChina cratered 3.09 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) Huaneng Power tumbled 2.00 percent, China Shenhua Energy surrendered 2.97 percent, Gemdale dropped 4.31 percent, Poly Developments sank 2.64 percent and China Vanke crashed 4.10 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened flat but quickly tracked to the upside and spent the balance of the day in the green.

The Dow jumped 515.19 points or 1.05 percent to finish at 49,407.66, while the NASDAQ added 130.29 points or 0.56 percent to end at 23,592.11 and the S&P 500 gained 37.41 points or 0.54 percent to close at 6,976.44.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing manufacturing activity in the U.S. unexpectedly expanded for the first time in 12 months in January.

The markets saw continued strength after President Donald Trump announced that he has reached a trade deal with India.

But traders seemed somewhat reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Monday as signs of de-escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict reduced supply-output concerns in the Middle East, taking off the geopolitical risk premium. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down $3.28 or 5.03 percent at $61.93 per barrel.