Higher Open Called For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slipping just 10 points or 0.3 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite now sits just beneath the 3,260-point plateau although it's likely to halt its slide on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday following losses from the resource stocks, gains from the financials and a mixed bag from the property sector.

For the day, the index dipped 4.00 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 3,259.76 after trading between 3,252.87 and 3,285.33. The Shenzhen Composite Index sank 18.75 points or 0.95 percent to end at 1,956.14.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 1.48 percent, while Bank of China spiked 1.63 percent, China Construction Bank strengthened 1.27 percent, China Merchants Bank collected 0.47 percent, Agricultural Bank of China rallied 1.69 percent, China Life Insurance improved 0.81 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.61 percent, Yankuang Energy stumbled 1.35 percent, PetroChina eased 0.12 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) added 0.47 percent, Huaneng Power lost 0.58 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.77 percent, Gemdale soared 2.10 percent, Poly Developments climbed 1.13 percent, China Vanke fell 0.24 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was unchanged.

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

The Dow climbed 123.74 points or 0.28 percent to finish at a record 44,860.31, while the NASDAQ jumped 119.46 points or 0.63 percent to close at 19,174.30 and the S&P 500 improved 34.28 points or 0.57 percent to end at 6,021.63, also a record.

The higher close by the major averages came as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting revealed officials believe it will be appropriate to "gradually" lower interest rates.

The minutes said officials feel a gradual approach to lowering rates to a more neutral stance will be appropriate if economic data come in "about as expected, with inflation continuing to move down sustainably to 2 percent and the economy remaining near maximum employment."

Oil prices drifted lower on Tuesday following reports Israel and Hezbollah are closer to reaching a cease-fire agreement within the next few days. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January closed down $0.17 at $68.77 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see October data for industrial profits later today; in September, profits were down 3.5 percent on year.