China Stock Market Expected To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in two straight sessions, gaining more than 80 points or 1.9 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,165-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with oil prices being the main catalyst to the upside. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion. The SCI finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial and insurance companies, while the resource and property sectors were soft. For the day, the index climbed 44.86 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 4,165.29 after trading between 4,119.88 and 4,168.36. The Shenzhen Composite Index soared 54.47 points or 2.05 percent to end at 2,714.52. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.39 percent, while Bank of China gained 0.73 percent, Agricultural Bank of China jumped 1.48 percent, China Merchants Bank lost 0.44 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.42 percent, China Life Insurance vaulted 1.29 percent, Jiangxi Copper sank 0.85 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) declined 1.42 percent, Yankuang Energy shed 0.42 percent, PetroChina eased 0.10 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) plunged 3.08 percent, Huaneng Power perked 0.14 percent, China Shenhua Energy retreated 1.39 percent, Gemdale slumped 0.93 percent, Poly Developments dropped 0.91 percent and China Vanke tumbled 1.61 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Monday but managed to break into the green shortly thereafter.

The Dow added 86.13 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 49,590.20, while the NASDAQ gained 62.56 points or 0.26 percent to close at 23,733.90 and the S&P 500 rose 10.99 points or 0.16 percent to end at 6,977.27.

The initial pullback on Wall Street reflected concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence after Fed Chair Jerome Powell revealed that the U.S. central bank has been served subpoenas by the Department of Justice that threaten criminal charges.

Powell termed this action "unprecedented" and ascribed it to President Donald Trump's ongoing threats and pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders remain optimistic about the outlook for interest rates. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, the central bank is still likely to cut rates by at least another quarter point in the coming months.

Crude oil prices climbed on Monday as the increasing possibility of U.S. intervention to end the Iran turmoil sets off production disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.33 or 0.51 percent at $59.42 per barrel.