China Shares May Open To The Upside On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished higher in three straight sessions, advancing almost 85 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite now sits just beneath the 3,380-point plateau and it's got a positive lead again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, supported by oil and technology stocks. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the financial shares and resource and energy companies, while the properties were mixed.

For the day, the index gained 14.82 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 3,378.81 after trading between 3,348.37 and 3,386.62. The Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 2.96 points or 0.14 percent to end at 2,049.47.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China strengthened 1.31 percent, while Bank of China jumped 1.60 percent, China Construction Bank rallied 1.64 percent, China Merchants Bank accelerated 1.67 percent, Agricultural Bank of China improved 1.45 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.39 percent, Jiangxi Copper rose 0.28 percent, Yankuang Energy advanced 0.82 percent, PetroChina increased 1.00 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.63 percent, Huaneng Power gained 0.57 percent, China Shenhua Energy spiked 1.57 percent, Gemdale shed 0.52 percent, Poly Developments gathered 0.68 percent, China Vanke was up 0.69 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened slightly lower on Tuesday, although the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were able to break into the green to record closing highs by the day's end.

The Dow sank 76.47 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 44,705.53, while the NASDAQ added 76.96 points or 0.40 percent to close at 19,480.91 and the S&P rose 2.73 points or 0.05 percent to end at 6,049.

A relatively light day on the U.S. economic front may have kept traders on the sidelines, although the Labor Department reported that job openings increased by more than expected in October.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on private sector employment, service sector activity and consumer sentiment as well as remarks by several Federal Reserve officials, including Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The data and remarks could impact the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Fed's next monetary policy meeting later this month.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Tuesday on easing concerns about excess supply on hopes that OPEC will delay plans to return its production cuts by a few more months. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed up $1.84 or 2.7 percent at $69.94 a barrel.