China Stock Market Due For Downward Correction

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has climbed higher in six straight sessions, accelerating more than 100 points or 3.4 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,175-point plateau although investors may lock in gains on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower on concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Monday following gains from the resource stocks, weakness from the properties and a mixed performance from the financial sector.

For the day, the index added 18.45 points or 0.58 percent to finish at 3,176.08 after trading between 3,165.43 and 3,183.58. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 13.95 points or 0.68 percent to end at 2,054.47.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.23 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.62 percent, China Construction Bank sank 0.71 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.09 percent, China Life Insurance collected 0.65 percent, Jiangxi Copper surged 5.42 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) soared 4.22 percent, Yankuang Energy added 0.52 percent, PetroChina perked 0.20 percent, Huaneng Power plunged 4.34 percent, China Shenhua Energy rose 0.29 percent, Gemdale tumbled 3.30 percent, Poly Developments declined 1.80 percent, China Vanke retreated 2.29 percent, China Fortune Land gained 0.40 percent, Beijing Capital Development slumped 1.41 percent and Bank of Communications and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) were unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed, eventually ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow dropped 112.96 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 33,517.65, while the NASDAQ gained 66.36 points or 0.63 percent to close at 10,635.65 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.99 points or 0.08 percent to end at 3,892.09.

The tech-heavy NASDAQ was solid after bond yields dropped amid bets the Federal Reserve will slow down the pace of its interest rate hikes in the coming months.

Stocks pared gains after comments from Fed officials that the central bank might raise rates to somewhere above 5 percent.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Monday, gaining for a third straight session amid hopes of increased demand - while a weak dollar also helped to support oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February rose $0.86 or 1.2 percent at $74.63 a barrel.