China Stock Market May Halt Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 35 points or 1.1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just shy of the 3,165-point plateau although it's expected to stop the bleeding on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic ahead of Wednesday's FOMC interest rate decision. The European and U.S. markets were mostly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index dipped 3.58 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 3,164.16 after trading between 3,151.13 and 3,178.73. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 7.53 points or 0.37 percent to end at 2,004.30.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell 0.22 percent, while Bank of China dropped 0.80 percent, China Construction Bank slid 0.34 percent, China Merchants Bank skidded 1.10 percent, Bank of Communications shed 0.54 percent, China Life Insurance eased 0.19 percent, Jiangxi Copper lost 0.68 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) tumbled 1.71 percent, Yankuang Energy retreated 1.68 percent, PetroChina declined 0.62 percent, Huaneng Power jumped 1.54 percent, China Shenhua Energy was down 0.33 percent, Gemdale plunged 1.87 percent, Poly Developments plummeted 2.10 percent, China Vanke slumped 1.29 percent, China Fortune Land stumbled 1.68 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened higher, faded as the day progressed but still finished with modest gains.

The Dow jumped 183.55 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 35,411.24, while the NASDAQ rose 26.06 points or 0.19 percent to close at 14,058.87 and the S&P 500 added18.30 points or 0.40 percent to end at 4,554.64.

The markets continued to benefit from recent upward momentum, which has contributed to an 11-day winning streak for the Dow, the longest since February 2017. The recent strength lifted all three major averages to their best levels in over a year last week.

Overall trading activity remained somewhat subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another 25 basis point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for rates.

Crude oil futures settled sharply higher Monday, buoyed by increased demand for gasoline and export cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended higher by $1.67 or 2.2 percent at $78.74 a barrel.