China Stock Market May Erase Tuesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last six trading days since the end of four-day losing streak in which it had slumped more than 70 points or 2.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 2,900-point plateau and it's expected to remain rangebound again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside on strength from technology shares and optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and flat and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday as gains from the financial shares and oil companies were dented by weakness from the property sector.

For the day, the index sank 19.93 point or 0.68 percent to finish at 2,898.88 after trading between 2,892.84 and 2,917.97. he Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 21.38 points or 1.20 percent to end at 1,766.62.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.42 percent, while Bank of China rose 0.25 percent, China Construction Bank added 0.47 percent, China Merchants Bank dropped 0.94 percent, China Life Insurance gained 0.77 percent, Jiangxi Copper eased 0.06 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) sank 0.74 percent, Yankuang Energy skidded 0.97 percent, PetroChina climbed 1.01 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.19 percent, Huaneng Power rose 0.38 percent, China Shenhua Energy retreated 1.42 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.33 percent, Poly Developments tumbled 1.95 percent, China Vanke slumped 1.26 percent and Bank of Communications was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street upbeat as the major averages opened modestly higher on Tuesday and continued to tick higher as the day progressed.

The Dow climbed 159.36 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 37,545.33, while the NASDAQ added 81.60 points or 0.54 percent to close at 15,074.57 and the S&P 500 rose 20.12 points or 0.42 percent to end at 4,774.75.

A surge by shares of Intel (INTC) provided a boost to the markets following news the Israeli government will give the company a $3.2 billion grant toward the construction of a new $25 billion chip-making facility in southern Israel.

Stocks also continued to benefit from optimism about the outlook for interest rates following last week's tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data.

On the heels of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating a 72.7 percent chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by a quarter point in March.

Oil prices surged higher Tuesday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over trade disruptions following attacks on ships. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February jumped $2.01 or 2.7 percent at $75.57 a barrel.