Soft Start Anticipated For China Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The China stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, collecting just 6 points or 0.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index now sits just above the 2,855-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected following recent optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The SCI finished slightly higher on Monday following gains from the property and resource stocks.

For the day, the index was up 1.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 2,855.52 after trading between 2,844.38 and 2,860.65. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 6.27 points or 0.42 percent to end at 1,512.50.

Among the actives, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China shed 0.46 percent, while China Merchants Bank collected 0.21 percent, China Life Insurance improved 1.22 percent, Jiangxi Copper jumped 1.69 percent, Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) strengthened 1.33 percent, PetroChina rallied 1.34 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) climbed 1.03 percent, Huaneng Power retreated 1.69 percent, China Shenhua Energy perked 0.17 percent, Gemdale soared 2.36 percent, Poly Developments gained 1.39 percent, China Vanke spiked 1.87 percent and Agricultural Bank of China was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened slightly higher on Monday but quickly headed south, eventually all ending under water.

The Dow dipped 0.02 points or 0.00 percent to finish at 41,175.08, while the NASDAQ sank 152.03 points or 0.85 percent to close at 17,725.77 and the S&P 500 lost 17.77 points or 0.32 percent to end at 5,616.84.

The Dow found mild support from 3M Co. (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO) and Walt Disney (DIS). On the other hand, substantial weakness among semiconductor stocks weighed on the NASDAQ, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging by 2.5 percent.

Within the semiconductor sector, AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) slumped by 2.3 percent ahead of the release of its fiscal second quarter results on Wednesday.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a sharp increase by new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in July.

The price of crude oil moved sharply higher on Monday, extending recent gains amid renewed geopolitical concerns after Hezbollah and Israeli forces exchanged attacks across the Lebanon-Israel border. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery shot up $2.36 or 3.2 percent to $77.19 a barrel.

Closer to home, China will provide July figures for industrial profits later this morning; in June, profits were up 3.5 percent on year.