China Stock Market Tipped To Open Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, slumping more than 80 points or 2.6 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,280-point plateau and it's poised to extend its losses on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests consolidation on renewed fears for the economy in the face of a Caovid-19 resurgence. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financials, properties and oil companies.

For the day, the index dropped 32.12 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 3,281.47 after trading between 3,277.08 and 3,319.25. The Shenzhen Composite Index slumped 31.78 points or 1.45 percent to end at 2,155.56.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China rose 0.22 percent, while Bank of China collected 0.30 percent, China Merchants Bank and China Construction Bank both shed 0.35 percent, China Life Insurance lost 0.57 percent, Jiangxi Copper eased 0.12 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.22 percent, Yankuang Energy strengthened 1.54 percent, PetroChina was down 0.19 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) perked 0.25 percent, Huaneng Power jumped 1.99 percent, China Shenhua Energy soared 2.52 percent, Gemdale rallied 1.59 percent, Poly Developments spiked 2.01 percent, China Vanke gathered 0.26 percent, China Fortune Land dropped 0.96 percent, Beijing Capital Development was down 0.22 percent and Bank of Communications was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday, but a late slide pushed them into the red at the close.

The Dow dropped 192.51 points or 0.62 percent to finish at 30,981.51, while the NASDAQ sank 107.87 points or 0.95 percent to end at 11,264.73 and the S&P 500 lost 35.63 points or 0.92 percent to close at 3,818.80.

The late-day weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation for June.

Concerns about the emergence of a new, more infectious Covid-19 strain in several parts of the world also continued to weigh.

Investors also seemed to be moving money out of stocks ahead of what some expect to be a difficult quarterly earnings season.

The price of crude oil plummeted on Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for global demand due to recession fears and a renewed spike in Covid-19 cases. West Texas Intermediate for August delivery shed $8.25 or 7.9 percent to $95.84 a barrel, closing below $100 a barrel for the first time in two months.

Closer to home, China is scheduled to release June figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to rise 3.9 percent on year, easing from 4.1 percent in May. Exports are called higher by an annual 12.0 percent, down from 16.9 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $75.7 billion, down from $78.76 billion a month earlier.