China Stock Market May Tick Higher On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Monday snapped the two-day slide in which it had dropped more than 55 points or 1.5 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,830-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets continued to be mildly positive on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The SCI finished slightly higher on Monday as gains from the broader market were capped by weakness from the financials and resource stocks. For the day, the index gained 8.49 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 3,828.58 after trading between 3,806.20 and 3,831.74. The Shenzhen Composite Index improved 13.80 points or 0.56 percent to end at 2,486.42. Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was down 0.28 percent, while Bank of China contracted 1.51 percent, Agricultural Bank of China plunged 2.41 percent, China Merchants Bank eased 0.20 percent, Bank of Communications stumbled 2.01 percent, China Life Insurance skidded 1.02 percent, Jiangxi Copper declined 1.21 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) lost 0.65 percent, Yankuang Energy slumped 0.96 percent, PetroChina shed 0.61 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) sank 0.75 percent, Huaneng Power tumbled 1.90 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.23 percent, Gemdale dropped 0.95 percent, Poly Developments retreated 1.39 percent and China Vanke rose 0.29 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages opened in the red on Monday but quickly bounced higher and continued to trend that way throughout the session, ending near daily highs.

The Dow added 66.27 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 46,381.54, while the NASDAQ jumped 157.50 points or 0.70 percent to close at 22,788.98 and the S&P 500 gained 29.39 points or 0.44 percent to end at 6,693.75.

Profit taking contributed to the initial weakness on Wall Street, with some traders looking to cash in on the recent strength in the markets.

Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders remain optimistic about the outlook for the markets amid expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

After cutting rates by a quarter point last Wednesday, the Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another quarter at each of its next two meetings in October and December.

Crude oil was little changed on Monday amid lingering oversupply concerns after OPEC agreed earlier this month to boost production starting in October. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.05 or 0.08 percent at $62.73 per barrel.