China Shares Expected To Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 30 points or 1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,240-point plateau and it's likely to open under pressure again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautious on concerns for the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

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

For the day, the index fell 15.44 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 3,240.36 after trading between 3,237.79 and 3,252.84. The Shenzhen Composite Index eased 1.05 points or 0.05 percent to end at 2,080.44.

Among the actives, Bank of China sank 0.77 percent, while China Construction Bank skidded 1.12 percent, China Merchants Bank retreated 1.16 percent, Bank of Communications eased 0.17 percent, China Life Insurance declined 1.40 percent, Jiangxi Copper dropped 1.05 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) stumbled 1.77 percent, Yankuang Energy shed 0.73 percent, PetroChina tumbled 1.99 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) tanked 2.47 percent, Huaneng Power lost 0.45 percent, China Shenhua Energy dipped 0.07 percent, Gemdale stumbled 1.74 percent, Poly Developments surrendered 2.08 percent, China Vanke fell 1.27 percent, China Fortune Land plunged 1.79 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and stayed in the red throughout the session.

The Dow tumbled 245.25 points or 0.72 percent to finish at 34,053.87, while the NASDAQ dipped 22.28 points or 0.16 percent to end at 13,667.29 and the S&P 500 fell 20.88 points or 0.47 percent to close at 4,388.71.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to cash in on recent strength in the markets, which lifted the NASADAQ and the S&P 500 to their best levels in over a year last week.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders look ahead to congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later today regarding the outlook for interest rates.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said new residential construction in the U.S. unexpectedly skyrocketed in May, while building permits also jumped more than expected.

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday amid concerns that further tightening by the Federal Reserve and other central banks may impact global economic growth and weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August ended down $0.74 at $71.19 a barrel.