China Stock Market Expected To Open Under Pressure On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had picked up almost a dozen points or 0.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just shy of the 3,080-point plateau and the losses may accelerate on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on trade concerns emanating from protests in China. The European and U.S. markets were solidly in the red and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday following losses from the financials and resource stocks, while the properties were mixed and the energy companies offered support.

For the day, the index lost 23.14 points or 0.75 percent to finish at 3,078.55 after trading between 3,034.70 and 3,080.18. The Shenzhen Composite Index fell 10.11 points or 0.51 percent to end at 1,974.07.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China surrendered 1.85 percent, while Bank of China shed 0.64 percent, China Construction Bank retreated 1.44 percent, China Merchants Bank plunged 3.21 percent, China Life Insurance sank 0.74 percent, Jiangxi Copper dropped 0.76 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) skidded 1.12 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.80 percent, PetroChina weakened 1.35 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) slumped 0.89 percent, Huaneng Power rallied 2.60 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.36 percent, Gemdale gained 0.35 percent, Poly Developments plummeted 3.03 percent, China Vanke declined 1.15 percent, China Fortune Land fell 0.38 percent, Beijing Capital Development surged 5.54 percent and Bank of Communications was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and the losses accelerated as the day progressed, closing near session lows.

The Dow plunged 497.57 points or 1.45 percent to finish at 33,849.46, while the NASDAQ tumbled 176.86 points or 1.58 percent to close at 11,049.50 and the S&P 500 slumped 62.18 points or 1.54 percent to end at 3,963.94.

Concerns about developments in China fueled the substantial pullback on Wall Street, as widespread protests against the Beijing's zero-Covid restriction policy broke out over the weekend.

The weakness on Wall Street may also have reflected lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of next month's Federal Reserve meeting.

While the Fed is widely expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes next month, the minutes of the central bank's early November meeting suggested some officials think rates will be to be raised higher than previously anticipated.

Crude oil prices shook off early weakness and moved higher on Monday amid speculation that OPEC will seriously consider a new production cut at its meeting later this week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January gained $0.96 or 1.3 percent at $77.24 a barrel.