China Stock Market May Again Test Resistance At 3,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, collecting almost 35 points or 1.1 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 2,975-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished barely higher on Monday as gains from the financials and resource stocks were offset by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index picked up 2.72 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 2,974.01 after trading between 2,959.13 and 2,977.31. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.97 percent, while Agricultural Bank of China spiked 2.61 percent, China Construction Bank soared 2.99 percent, China Merchants Bank shed 0.65 percent, Bank of Communications climbed 1.08 percent, Jiangxi Copper advanced 0.84 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) strengthened 1.64 percent, Yankuang Energy skyrocketed 5.95 percent, PetroChina improved 1.36 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 2.34 percent, Gemdale plunged 3.03 percent, Poly Developments dipped 0.22 percent and China Vanke tumbled 1.73 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Monday and stayed that way throughout the session to hit fresh record closing highs in somewhat choppy trade.

The Dow rallied 210.82 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 40,211.72, while the NASDAQ gained 74.12 points or 0.40 percent to close at 18,472.57 and the S&P 500 rose 15.87 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,631.22.

The support on Wall Street was due largely to comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said that the central bank will not wait until inflation hits 2 percent to cut interest rates.

On the economic front, a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed regional manufacturing activity contracted at a slightly faster rate in July.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Monday, weighed down by weighed down by political uncertainty following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and weak economic data from China. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August ended down $0.30 at $81.91 a barrel.