China Shares May Return To The Downside

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long holiday weekend, the China stock market had finished lower in four straight sessions, sliding more than 20 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,280-point plateau and it may open under pressure again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on tariff concerns and sinking oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished slightly lower last Wednesday following losses from the financial shares and resource stocks, while the property sector was mixed.

For the day, the index slipped 7.62 points or 0.23 percent to finish at 3,279.03 after trading between 3,277.55 and 3,292.20. The Shenzhen Composite Index gained 13.35 points or 0.70 percent to end at 1,915.62.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China plummeted 3.58 percent, while Bank of China slumped 2.98 percent, Agricultural Bank of China crashed 3.04 percent, China Merchants Bank stumbled 3.00 percent, Bank of Communications retreated 1.32 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.22 percent, Jiangxi Copper sank 0.65 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.31 percent, Yankuang Energy fell 0.41 percent, PetroChina improved 0.63 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.53 percent, Huaneng Power lost 0.56 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.08 percent, Gemdale shed 0.47 percent, Poly Developments added 0.48 percent and China Vanke was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Monday, rallied midday but turned lower into the finish to end in the red.

The Dow shed 98.60 points or 0.24 percent to finish at 41,218.83, while the NASDAQ dropped 133.49 points or 0.74 percent to close at 17,844.24 and the S&P 500 sank 36.29 points or 0.64 percent to end at 5,650.38.

The early pullback on Wall Street came as some traders looked to cash in on the recent strength in the markets, which had lifted the major averages to their best levels in a month.

Renewed trade concerns also weighed on stocks after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 100 percent tariff on movies produced in foreign countries.

However, early selling pressure waned following the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing an unexpected increase in U.S. service sector activity in April.

Crude oil futures moved sharply lower on Monday to a four-year low after several members of OPEC+ agreed to increase oil production for a second month. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery tumbled $1.16 or 2 percent to $57.13 a barrel.