Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting almost 70 points or 2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,425-point plateau and it may move higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the FOMC meeting later this week. The European and U.S. markets moved higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the properties and oil companies, while the financial shares came in mixed.

For the day, the index rose 6.57 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 3,426.13 after trading between 3,422.46 and 3,436.35. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 2.93 points or 0.14 percent to end at 2,112.30.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rallied 0.89 percent, while Bank of China perked 0.19 percent, China Construction Bank gathered 0.59 percent, China Merchants Bank slid 0.27 percent, Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.79 percent, China Life Insurance fell 0.38 percent, Jiangxi Copper dropped 0.99 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 1.41 percent, Yankuang Energy improved 0.51 percent, PetroChina advanced 1.02 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 0.86 percent, Huaneng Power gained 0.44 percent, China Shenhua Energy fell 0.38 percent, Gemdale climbed 1.04 percent, Poly Developments added 0.69 percent and China Vanke rose 0.27 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday, dipped midday but still finished solidly in the green.

The Dow jumped 353.44 points or 0.85 percent to finish at 41,841.63, while the NASDAQ climbed 54.58 points or 0.31 percent to close at 17,808.66 and the S&P 500 improved 36.18 points or 0.64 percent to end at 5,675.12.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness, which saw the S&P 500 plunge into correction territory last Thursday.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to the Commerce Department's report on U.S. retail sales in the month of February, which wasn't as bad as feared.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. While the Fed is almost universally expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will look to the accompanying statement and officials' latest projections for clues about the outlook for rates.

Oil futures rose on Monday on hopes of improved demand from China after plans to boost consumer spending, and on possible supply disruptions due to the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $0.40 or 0.6 percent at $67.58 a barrel.