Rebound Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after halting the three-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 50 points or 1.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 2,975-point plateau although it figures to bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished sharply lower on Monday with damage across the board, especially among the financials, properties and resource stocks.

For the day, the index plummeted 61.37 points or 2.02 percent to finish at 2,977.56 after trading between 2,965.17 and 3,064.42. The Shenzhen Composite Index tumbled 34.58 points or 1.76 percent to end at 1,932.34.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.23 percent, while Bank of China fell 0.33 percent, China Construction Bank shed 0.54 percent, China Merchants Bank plummeted 5.27 percent, Bank of Communications lost 0.65 percent, China Life Insurance tanked 3.71 percent, Jiangxi Copper dipped 0.26 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) retreated 1.46 percent, Yankuang Energy surrendered 2.71 percent, PetroChina slid 0.39 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.23 percent, Huaneng Power declined 1.84 percent, China Shenhua Energy plunged 3.15 percent, Gemdale crashed 6.76 percent, Poly Developments slumped 3.16 percent and China Vanke stumbled 3.89 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off early directionless trade on Monday but steamed higher in the afternoon to finish firmly in the green.

The Dow soared 417.06 points or 1.34 percent to finish at 31,499.62, while the NASDAQ spiked 92.90 points or 0.86 percent to end at 10,952.61 and the S&P 500 jumped 44.59 points or 1.19 percent to close at 3,797.34.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street partly reflected optimism the Federal Reserve will signal a slowdown in monetary policy tightening following its meeting next week.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points next week, but traders are hopeful the central bank will indicate plans to slow the pace of rates hikes beginning in December.

Crude oil prices moved lower on Monday, giving ground following the advance seen last Friday. The pullback reflected lingering concerns about the outlook for global demand, particularly in China. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery fell $0.47 or 0.6 percent to $84.58 a barrel.