Additional Support Predicted For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 40 points or 1.3 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 3,000-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on an improving outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.

The SCI finished modestly higher on Tuesday following gains from the oil companies, property stocks and financial shares.

For the day, the index collected 12.00 points or 0.40 percent to finish at 3,003.44 after trading between 2,980.45 and 3,003.75. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 2.73 points or 0.15 percent to end at 1,868.10.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China strengthened 1.27 percent, while Bank of China rallied 1.53 percent, China Construction Bank improved 1.41 percent, China Merchants Bank climbed 1.04 percent, Bank of Communications jumped 1.75 percent, China Life Insurance perked 0.10 percent, Jiangxi Copper added 0.47 percent, Yankuang Energy gained 0.45 percent, PetroChina increased 0.73 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 0.93 percent, Huaneng Power shed 0.51 percent, China Shenhua Energy gathered 0.55 percent, Gemdale accelerated 1.46 percent, Poly Developments skyrocketed 7.60 percent, China Vanke surged 3.57 percent and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages shook off a soft open, quickly moving into the green and finishing well in positive territory.

The Dow advanced 173.01 points or 0.48 percent to finish at 36,577.94, while the NASDAQ jumped 100.91 points or 0.70 percent to close at 14,533.40 and the S&P 500 gained 21.26 points or 0.46 percent to end at 4,643.70.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing U.S. consumer prices inched up in line with economist estimates in November.

The data has added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will be looking to the accompanying statement and projections for signs the central bank could begin cutting rates next year.

Crude oil prices fell to a six-month low Tuesday amid lingering concerns about the outlook for fuel demand and worries about possible oversupply in the market. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended down $2.71 or 3.8 percent at $68.61 a barrel.