Little Movement Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day slide in which it had stumbled almost 90 points or 3.3 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 2,770-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is erratic and seemingly at the mercy of quarterly earnings, which have varied greatly so far this earnings season. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the properties, losses from the financials and a mixed picture from the resource stocks.

For the day, the index gained 14.64 points or 0.53 percent to finish at 2,770.98 after trading between 2,724.16 and 2,784.84. The Shenzhen Composite Index climbed 15.33 points or 0.95 percent to end at 1,626.60.

Among the actives, Bank of China shed 0.50 percent, while China Construction Bank collected 0.31 percent, China Merchants Bank sank 0.86 percent, Bank of Communications fell 0.35 percent, Industrial Bank slumped 0.66 percent, China Life Insurance dropped 0.93 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.53 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.20 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 1.51 percent, PetroChina lost 0.57 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.19 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.36 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 2.00 percent, Gemdale soared 2.84 percent, Poly Developments gathered 0.34 percent, China Vanke accelerated 1.44 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and closed the same way.

The Dow sank 96.36 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 37,905.45, while the NASDAQ added 65.66 points or 0.43 percent to close at 15,425.94 and the S&P 500 rose 14.17 points or 0.29 percent to end at a fresh record of 4,864.60.

The choppy trading on Wall Street reflected a mixed reaction to the latest earnings news from several big-name companies.

The Dow pulled back off Monday's record closing high amid a steep drop by shares of 3M (MMM), which offered disappointing guidance. Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) also slumped despite reporting better than expected results.

Meanwhile, shares of telecom giant Verizon (VZ) and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (PG) surged after reporting better than expected earnings news.

Crude oil futures eased Tuesday amid uncertainty about the outlook for global oil demand and after Libya restarted production at the Sharara oilfield, which was shut for two weeks due to protests. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March fell $0.39 or 0.5 percent at $74.37 a barrel.