China Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, sinking more than 70 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just beneath the 3,180-point plateau although it's tipped to open in the green on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on bargain hunting after a rough couple of sessions. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished modestly lower on Monday as losses from the financials and properties were mitigated by support from the oil companies. For the day, the index shed 10.82 points or 0.34 percent to finish at 3,178.43 after trading between 3,141.66 and 3,180.51. The Shenzhen Composite Index dipped 2.64 points or 0.13 percent to end at 1,999.65.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China skidded 1.08 percent, while Bank of China retreated 1.59 percent, China Construction Bank dropped 0.84 percent, China Merchants Bank tanked 2.08 percent, Bank of Communications declined 1.26 percent, China Life Insurance stumbled 1.36 percent, Jiangxi Copper fell 0.31 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) slid 0.33 percent, Yankuang Energy tumbled 1.98 percent, PetroChina gained 0.64 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) rose 0.33 percent, Huaneng Power surged 3.30 percent, China Shenhua Energy lost 0.55 percent, Gemdale plunged 2.19 percent, Poly Developments perked 0.36 percent and China Vanke slumped 1.37 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Monday; the NASDAQ and S&P 500 quickly bounced higher and stayed that way, while the Dow hugged the unchanged line throughout the session and finally finished on the green side.

The Dow added 26.23 points or 0.07 percent to finish at 35,307.63, while the NASDAQ jumped 143.48 points or 1.05 percent to close at 13,788.33 and the S&P 500 gained 25.67 points or 0.58 percent to end at 4,489.72.

The strength on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting after the NASDAQ and S&P 500 ended the previous session at their lowest closing levels in a month.

Overall trading activity has remained somewhat subdued, however, amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

Oil prices dropped on Monday on concerns about the outlook for energy demand and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for September ended lower by $0.68 or 0.8 percent at $82.51 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will provide July numbers for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment later this morning. Production is expected to rise 4.5 percent on year, up from 4.4 percent in June. Sales are tipped to climb an annual 4.8 percent, up from 3.1 percent a month earlier. FAI is called steady at 3.8 percent, and the jobless rate also is seen unchanged at 5.2 percent.