China Shares Expected To Open In The Green

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Tuesday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 50 points or 1.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,060-point plateau and it's likely to see additional support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, property stocks and resource companies.

For the day, the index sank 22.17 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 3,062.76 after trading between 3,062.63 and 3,090.05. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 7.73 points or 0.43 percent to end at 1,795.72.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.58 percent, while Bank of China weakened 1.38 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 0.88 percent, China Merchants Bank skidded 1.06 percent, Bank of Communications and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) both sank 0.81 percent, China Life Insurance retreated 1.63 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.52 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) declined 1.33 percent, Yankuang Energy rose 0.38 percent, PetroChina added 0.45 percent, Huaneng Power stumbled 1.08 percent, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.55 percent, Gemdale slumped 1.48 percent, Poly Developments tumbled 1.89 percent and China Vanke lost 1.17 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but trended upward throughout the day and finished in the green.

The Dow jumped 320.33 points or 0.83 percent to finish at 39,110.76, while the NASDAQ rallied 3.34 points or 0.39 percent to close at 16,166.79 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.56 percent to end at 5,178.51.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street reflected a rebound by Nvidia (NVDA) after the company unveiled its latest line of AI chips; the company has lately been a key driver of market activity.

Traders also continue to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy announcement. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but the central bank's accompanying statement could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department noted a substantial rebound in new residential construction in the U.S. in February, while building permits also bounced higher.

Crude oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, rising for a second straight day as traders continued to assess the impact of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April climbed $0.75 at $83.47 a barrel.