China Stock Market Poised To Open In The Red On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Tuesday ended the modest two-day winning streak in which it had risen more than 35 points or 0.8 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 4,120-point plateau and it's looking at another soft start again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over the conflict in the Middle East, although oil stocks are expected to continue to soar. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the resource and property stocks, while the financial and oil companies offered support.

For the day, the index retreated 59.92 points or 1.43 percent to finish at 4,122.68 after trading between 4,116.01 and 4,197.23. The Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 89.05 points or 3.24 percent to end at 2,655.81.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China expanded 2.30 percent, while Bank of China collected 2.07 percent, Agricultural Bank of China soared 3.86 percent, China Merchants Bank vaulted 1.32 percent, Bank of Communications spiked 2.43 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.22 percent, Jiangxi Copper plummeted 6.36 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 2.10 percent, Yankuang Energy surged 8.75 percent, PetroChina and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) both skyrocketed by the10 percent daily limit, Huaneng Power added 0.41 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 2.41 percent, Gemdale stumbled 2.80 percent, Poly Developments declined 1.62 percent and China Vanke retreated 1.68 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and spent the entire session in the red, although closing at their best levels for the day.

The Dow stumbled 403.51 points or0.83 percent to finish at 48,501.27, while the NASDAQ sank 232.17 points or 1.02 percent to end at 22,516.69 and the S&P 500 dropped 64.99 points or 0.94 percent to close at 6,816.63.

The early nosedive on Wall Street came amid concerns about the fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. As the conflict entered its fourth day, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the war may last four to five weeks but could "go far longer than that."

The price of crude oil has continued to spike in response to the conflict, raising worries the jump in prices will lead to higher inflation.

Supply concerns were also worsened by the attacks on several oil refineries, including Saudi Aramco's oil facility in Ras Tanura.

After skyrocketing in the previous session, crude oil prices continued to soar on Tuesday after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $3.35 or 4.7 percent to $74.58 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see February numbers for the manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite indexes from the National Bureau of Statistics later this morning; in January, their scores were 49.3, 49.4 and 49.8, respectively.