China Stock Market May Extend Monday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The China stock market on Monday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had gathered more than 25 points or 0.7 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,150-point plateau and it may take further damage on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of key inflation data later this week. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the oil and property stocks, while the financials came in mixed.

For the day, the index fell 6.53 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 3,148.02 after trading between 3,126.17 and 3,157.37. The Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 16.98 points or 0.95 percent to end at 1,766.79.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.19 percent, while Bank of China fell 0.22 percent, China Construction Bank collected 0.28 percent, China Merchants Bank advanced 0.81 percent, Bank of Communications improved 0.72 percent, China Life Insurance shed 0.44 percent, Jiangxi Copper dipped 0.19 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.01 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 2.18 percent, PetroChina lost 0.60 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.17 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.16 percent, China Shenhua Energy sank 0.46 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.52 percent and Poly Developments and China Vanke both retreated 1.85 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow sank 81.33 points or 0.21 percent to finish at 39,431,51, while the NASDAQ gained 47.37 points or 0.29 percent to end at 16,388.24 and the S&P 500 eased 1.26 points or 0.02 percent to close at 5,221.42.

The early strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from renewed optimism about an interest rate cut by Federal Reserve in the coming months.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as key inflation data due this week could have a significant impact on the outlook for rates.

Oil prices advanced on Monday amid expectations about the outlook for demand after OPEC decided to extend supply cuts into the second half of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for June ended higher by $0.86 at $79.12 a barrel.