Soft Start Predicted For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Tuesday ended the three-day losing streak in which it had dropped more than 50 points or 1.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,030-point plateau although it's expected to open in the red again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with technology and oil companies expected to be under pressure. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Tuesday as gains from the financial shares and property stocks were dented by weakness from the resource companies.

For the day, the index gained 5.17 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 3,031.48 after trading between 3,006.26 and 3,036.49. The Shenzhen Composite Index perked 3.14 points or 0.18 percent to end at 1,752.29.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China improved 0.76 percent, while Bank of China advanced 0.91 percent, China Construction Bank strengthened 1.31 percent, China Merchants Bank surged 3.35 percent, Bank of Communications collected 1.11 percent, China Life Insurance jumped 1.74 percent, Jiangxi Copper shed 0.53 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) rose 0.28 percent, Yankuang Energy plunged 3.73 percent, PetroChina sank 0.75 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.48 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.21 percent, China Shenhua Energy retreated 1.25 percent, Gemdale climbed 1.51 percent, Poly Developments gathered 0.41 percent and China Vanke increased 1.28 percent.

The lead from Wall Street ends up negative as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and spent most of the session in the green before a late slump sent them all under water at the close.

The Dow shed 31.31 points or 0.08 percent to finish at 39,282.33, while the NASDAQ lost 68.80 points or 0.42 percent to close at 16,315.70 and the S&P 500 fell 14.61 points or 0.28 percent to end at 5,203.58.

The late-day weakness on Wall Street may have reflected concerns about the economic impact of the indefinite suspension of vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore.

Vessel traffic was suspended after a cargo ship crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning, leading to the bridge's collapse.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported an increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in February. Also, the Conference Board noted a slight deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in March.

Crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday with traders assessing oil demand and supply positions amid the tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May ended lower by $0.33 at $81.62 a barrel.