China Stock Market May Find Traction On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The China stock market headed has finished lower in two straight sessions, sinking more than 30 points or 1 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now rests just above the 3,175-point plateau although it's likely to open higher on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The SCI finished barely lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the property and resource stocks, while the financials offered support.

For the day, the index dipped 2.72 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 3,176.33 after trading between 3,171.48 and 3,187.20. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 11.50 points or 0.56 percent to end at 2,050.37.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China improved 0.70 percent, while Bank of China advanced 0.96 percent, China Construction Bank strengthened 1.62 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 0.98 percent, Bank of Communications collected 0.42 percent, China Life Insurance rose 0.31 percent, Jiangxi Copper gathered 1.15 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) dipped 0.21 percent, Yankuang Energy jumped 1.83 percent, PetroChina perked 0.20 percent, Huaneng Power added 0.59 percent, China Shenhua Energy gained 0.77 percent, Gemdale skidded 1.15 percent, Poly Developments rallied 1.33 percent, China Vanke was up 0.15 percent, Beijing Capital Development sank 1.00 percent and China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Tuesday, faded as the day progressed but still finished in the green.

The Dow climbed 103.60 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 34,108.64, while the NASDAQ jumped 113.08 points or 1.01 percent to close at 11,256.81 and the S&P 500 gained 29.09 points or 0.73 percent to end at 4,019.65.

The early rally on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. inched up less than expected in November.

Buying interest waned over the course of the morning, however, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant beats ahead of the Fed's rate decision later today. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rate by another 50 basis points, with traders likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the outlook for future rate hikes.

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday due to concerns about supply disruptions amid the ongoing shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak last week, while a weak dollar also supported oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.22 or 3 percent at $75.39 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will provide November numbers for foreign direct investment later today; in October, FDI was up 14.4 percent on year.