China Stock Market Has Firm Lead For Wednesday's Trade

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two consecutive trading days, accelerating more than 110 points or 3.3 percent in that span. The Shanghai Composite now sits just above the 3,385-point plateau and it's expected to open higher again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to optimism over the U.S. presidential election. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

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

For the day, the index rallied 76.78 points or 2.32 percent to finish at the daily high of 3,386.99 after moving as low as 3,302.05. The Shenzhen Composite Index soared 63.55 points or 3.20 percent to end at 2,047.77.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 0.33 percent, while Bank of China gathered 0.41 percent, China Construction Bank perked 0.37 percent, China Merchants Bank increased 0.85 percent, Agricultural Bank of China rose 0.42 percent, China Life Insurance surged 6.42 percent, Jiangxi Copper and Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) both rallied 2.15 percent, Yankuang Energy climbed 1.08 percent, PetroChina advanced 0.98 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) gained 0.64 percent, Huaneng Power improved 0.83 percent, China Shenhua Energy added 0.69 percent, Gemdale soared 4.24 percent, Poly Developments spiked 2.39 percent and China Vanke accelerated 2.98 percent

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and picked up steam as the day progressed, ending near session highs.

The Dow rallied 427.28 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 42,221.88, while the NASDAQ surged 259.19 points or 1.43 percent to close at 18,439.17 and the S&P 500 jumped 70.07 points or 1.23 percent to end at 5.782.76.

The rally on Wall Street reflected optimism the stock market and the U.S. economy in general will continue to perform well regardless of the results of the elections.

Polls show an extremely tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, suggesting the outcome of the presidential election may not be known by the end of the night.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said service sector activity grew at an accelerated rate in October. Also, the Commerce Department noted a significant increase in the size of the U.S. trade deficit in September, as imports surged and exports slumped.

Oil futures settled higher on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session as traders reacted positively to OPEC's decision to delay production increases, while a weaker dollar also supported prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed up $0.52 or 0.73 percent at $71.99 a barrel.