China Bourse May Reclaim 3,200-Point Plateau

(RTTNews) - The China stock market headed south again on Monday, one session after snapping the two-day slide in which it had slipped more than 15 points or 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just beneath the 3,180-point plateau although it's likely to open higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on bargain hunting and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financials, properties and resource stocks.

For the day, the index sank 27.91 points or 0.87 percent to finish at 3,179.04 after trading between 3,176.58 and 3,196.72. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 13.97 points or 0.67 percent to end at 2,061.87.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.70 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.95 percent, China Construction Bank skidded 1.07 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.61 percent, Bank of Communications sank 0.84 percent, China Life Insurance tumbled 2.35 percent, Jiangxi Copper plunged 3.98 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) surrendered 3.67 percent, Yankuang Energy plummeted 4.13 percent, PetroChina weakened 0.97 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) lost 0.67 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 2.71 percent, China Shenhua Energy slumped 2.34 percent, Gemdale cratered 4.73 percent, Poly Developments lost 4.26 percent, China Vanke crashed 4.94 percent and Beijing Capital Development stumbled 4.61 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened flat on Monday but accelerated as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow surged 528 points or 1.58 percent to finish at 34,005.04, while the NASDAQ rallied 139.12 points or 1.26 percent to end at 11,143.74 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.18 points or 1.43 percent to close at 3,990.56.

The rally on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels following last week's notable decline.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a survey from the New York Federal Reserve showing inflation expectations decreased at the short, medium, and longer terms in November.

Traders also looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's highly anticipated monetary policy decision on Wednesday. While the Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes to 50 basis points, traders have recently expressed concerns about how much further the Fed will need to raise rates in order to contain inflation.

Crude oil prices rose sharply Monday on supply concerns following the continued closure of a pipeline carrying Canadian heavy crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast of Mexico. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.15 or 3 percent at $73.17 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will see November numbers for new yuan loans later today, with forecasts suggesting CNY1.350 trillion - up from CNY615.2 billion in October. Outstanding loan growth is called steady, higher by an annual 11.1 percent.