China Stock Market Expected To Remain Rangebound On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has alternated between positive and negative finishes through the last five trading days since the end of the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 140 points or 4.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,400-point plateau and it figures to remain in that neighborhood again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is inconsistent, with gains from the technology stocks likely to be offset by weakness from the energy producers. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished slightly lower on Tuesday as losses from the properties were mitigated by support from the resource and energy stocks and a mixed picture from the financials.

For the day, the index dipped 1.40 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 3,404.03 after trading between 3,372.06 and 3,424.84. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 12.33 points or 0.55 percent to end at 2,232.98.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.63 percent, while Bank of China added 0.30 percent, China Construction Bank rose 0.33 percent, China Merchants Bank dipped 0.17 percent, China Minsheng Bank slumped 0.54 percent, Bank of Communications perked 0.20 percent, China Life Insurance climbed 1.05 percent, Jiangxi Copper gained 0.62 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) strengthened 1.69 percent, Yankuang Energy soared 3.61 percent, PetroChina jumped 1.69 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) improved 0.49 percent, Huaneng Power surged 4.26 percent, China Shenhua Energy rallied 2.99 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.28 percent, Poly Developments plummeted 2.35 percent, China Vanke dropped 0.84 percent, China Fortune Land lost 0.63 percent and Beijing Capital Development declined 1.40 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened with deep losses on Tuesday; they improved throughout the session, although the Dow remained stuck in the red.

The Dow shed 129.44 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 30,967.82, while the NASDAQ surged 194.39 points or 1.75 percent to end at 11,322.24 and the S&P 500 rose 6.06 points or 0.16 percent to end at 3,831.39.

Growth fears outweighed news that U.S. President Joe Biden may announce a rollback of some U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.

Investors also looked ahead to the release of the minutes of the central bank's latest policy meeting and the non-farm payrolls data, due out later in the week.

In economic news, the Labor Department said factory orders increased more than expected in May.

Crude oil prices plunged sharply Tuesday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand following a surge in Covid cases in China, while fears about Fed tightening, a strong greenback and a possible global slowdown also weighed on oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August plummeted $8.93 or 8.2 percent at $99.50 a barrel.