China Stock Market Due For Support On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, plummeting more than 200 points or 6 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,200-point plateau although it's expected to open to the upside on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive, with technology stocks expected to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Monday following losses from the properties, gains from the financials and a mixed picture from the resource companies.

For the day, the index dipped 4.51 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 3,206.92 after trading between 3,185.46 and 3,219.49. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 7.01 points or 0.38 percent to end at 1,849.45.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gained 0.60 percent, while Bank of China improved 0.75 percent, China Construction Bank was up 0.12 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.01 percent, Agricultural Bank of China collected 0.78 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.36 percent, Jiangxi Copper rallied 1.22 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 1.64 percent, Yankuang Energy perked 0.14 percent, PetroChina added 0.68 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) eased 0.15 percent, Huaneng Power slipped 0.30 percent, China Shenhua Energy shed 0.62 percent, Gemdale sank 0.70 percent, China Vanke fell 0.29 percent and Poly Developments was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Monday and largely remained that way, although the Dow dipped into the red by the day's end.

The Dow shed 25.57 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 42,706.56, while the NASDAQ rallied 243.30 points or 1.24 percent to close at 19,864.98 and the S&P 500 added 32.91 points or 0.55 percent to end at 5,975.38.

The early rally on Wall Street reflected continued strength among tech stocks after contract electronics giant Foxconn reported record fourth quarter revenue amid strong AI server demand.

Early buying interest was also generated in reaction to reports suggesting President-elect Donald Trump may scale back his tariff plans.

Crude oil prices were unable to hold early gains on Monday, snapping a five-day winning streak - although the downside was capped after top oil exporter Saudi Arabia raised prices for Asian buyers for the first time in three months. West Texas Intermediate Crude for February delivery fell $0.46 or 0.5 percent to $73.50 a barrel.